5 U.S.C. § 8342 Lump-Sum Benefits; Designation of Beneficiary; Order of Precedence

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-34 (published on www.congress.gov on 12/26/2023), except for [P. L. 118-31]
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 5 U.S.C. § 8342

(a) Subject to subsection (j) of this section, an employee or Member who-

(1)

(A) is separated from the service for at least thirty-one consecutive days; or

(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-

(I) the amount by which any unrefunded amount described in section 8331(8)(A) or (B) relating to such service, exceeds 1.3 percent of basic pay for such service; and

(II) interest on the amount payable under subclause (I), computed in a manner consistent with applicable provisions of section 8331(8).

(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.