§ 8342. Lump-sum benefits; designation of beneficiary; order of precedence
(a)
Subject to subsection (j) of this section, an employee or Member who—
(1)
(B)
is transferred to a position in which he is not subject to this subchapter, or chapter
84 of this title, and remains in such a position for at least thirty-one consecutive days;
(2)
files an application with the Office of Personnel Management for payment of the lump-sum credit;
(3)
is not reemployed in a position in which he is subject to this subchapter, or chapter
84 of this title, at the time he files the application; and
(4)
will not become eligible to receive an annuity within thirty-one days after filing the application,
is entitled to be paid the lump-sum credit. Except as provided in section
8343a or
8334
(d)(2) of this title, the receipt of the payment of the lump-sum credit by the employee or Member voids all annuity rights under this subchapter based on the service on which the lump-sum credit is based, until the employee or Member is reemployed in the service subject to this subchapter. In applying this subsection to an employee or Member who becomes subject to chapter 84 (other than by an election under title III of the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act of 1986) and who, while subject to such chapter, files an application with the Office for a payment under this subsection—
(i)
entitlement to payment of the lump-sum credit shall be determined without regard to paragraph (1) or (3) if, or to the extent that, such lump-sum credit relates to service of a type described in clauses (i) through (iii) of section 302(a)(1)(C) of the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act of 1986; and
(ii)
if, or to the extent that, the lump-sum credit so relates to service of a type referred to in clause (i), it shall (notwithstanding section
8331
(8)) consist of—
(b)
Under regulations prescribed by the Office, a present or former employee or Member may designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries for the purpose of this subchapter.
(c)
Lump-sum benefits authorized by subsections (d)–(f) of this section shall be paid to the person or persons surviving the employee or Member and alive at the date title to the payment arises in the following order of precedence, and the payment bars recovery by any other person:
First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by the employee or Member in a signed and witnessed writing received in the Office before his death. For this purpose, a designation, change, or cancellation of beneficiary in a will or other document not so executed and filed has no force or effect.
Second, if there is no designated beneficiary, to the widow or widower of the employee or Member.
Third, if none of the above, to the child or children of the employee or Member and descendants of deceased children by representation.
Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of the employee or Member or the survivor of them.
Fifth, if none of the above, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate of the employee or Member.
Sixth, if none of the above, to such other next of kin of the employee or Member as the Office determines to be entitled under the laws of the domicile of the employee or Member at the date of his death.
For the purpose of this subsection, “child” includes a natural child and an adopted child, but does not include a stepchild.
(d)
If an employee or Member dies—
(2)
with a survivor or survivors and the right of all survivors terminates before a claim for survivor annuity is filed;
or if a former employee or Member not retired dies, the lump-sum credit shall be paid.
(e)
If all annuity rights under this subchapter based on the service of a deceased employee or Member terminate before the total annuity paid equals the lump-sum credit, the difference shall be paid.
(g)
Annuity accrued and unpaid on the termination, except by death, of the annuity of an annuitant or survivor annuitant shall be paid to that individual. Annuity accrued and unpaid on the death of a survivor annuitant shall be paid in the following order of precedence, and the payment bars recovery by any other person:
First, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate of the survivor annuitant.
Second, if there is no executor or administrator, payment may be made, after 30 days from the date of death of the survivor annuitant, to such next of kin of the survivor annuitant as the Office determines to be entitled under the laws of the domicile of the survivor annuitant at the date of his death.
(h)
Amounts deducted and withheld from the basic pay of an employee or Member from the first day of the first month which begins after he has performed sufficient service (excluding service which the employee or Member elects to eliminate for the purpose of annuity computation under section
8339 of this title) to entitle him to the maximum annuity provided by section
8339 of this title, together with interest on the amounts at the rate of 3 percent a year compounded annually from the date of the deductions to the date of retirement or death, shall be applied toward any deposit due under section
8334 of this title, and any balance not so required is deemed a voluntary contribution for the purpose of section
8343 of this title.
(j)
(1)
(A)
Payment of the lump-sum credit under subsection (a) may be made only if the spouse, if any, and any former spouse of the employee or Member are notified of the employee or Member’s application.
(B)
The Office shall prescribe regulations under which the lump-sum credit shall not be paid without the consent of a spouse or former spouse of the employee or Member where the Office has received such additional information and documentation as the Office may require that—