BNSF News

Railroad Retirement Benefits: More Information on Survivor Benefits Provided

2009-10-05

Monthly benefits may be payable under the Railroad Retirement Act to the surviving widow(er), children and certain other dependents of a railroad employee if the employee was "insured" under that act at the time of death.

Lump-sum death benefits may also be payable to qualified survivors in some cases. The following questions and answers describe Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)-payable survivor benefits and the eligibility requirements for these benefits.

Question: What are the general service requirements for railroad retirement survivor benefits?

With the exception of one type of lump-sum death benefit, eligibility for survivor benefits depends on whether or not a deceased employee was "insured" under the Railroad Retirement Act. An employee is insured if he or she has at least 10 years of railroad service, or five years performed after 1995, and a "current connection" with the railroad industry at the time of retirement or death, whichever occurs first. Generally, an employee who worked for a railroad in at least 12 months in the 30 months immediately preceding the month his or her railroad retirement annuity begins will meet the current connection requirement.

If an employee dies before retirement, railroad service in at least 12 months in the 30 months before death will meet the current connection requirement for the purpose of paying survivor benefits. If an employee does not qualify on this basis, but has 12 months of service in an earlier 30-month period, he or she may still meet the current connection requirement. This alternative generally applies if the employee did not have any regular employment outside the railroad industry after the end of the last 30-month period which included 12 months of railroad service and before the month the annuity begins or the date of death.

Full or part-time work for a non-railroad employer in the interim between the end of the last 30-month period including 12 months of railroad service and the beginning date of an employee's annuity, or the date of death if earlier, can break a current connection. Self-employment in an unincorporated business will not break a current connection; however, self-employment can break a current connection if the business is incorporated.

Working for certain U.S. government agencies -- Department of Transportation, National Transportation Safety Board, Surface Transportation Board, National Mediation Board, Railroad Retirement Board, Transportation Security Administration -- will not break a current connection. State employment with the Alaska Railroad, so long as that railroad remains an entity of the state of Alaska, will not break a current connection. Also, railroad service in Canada for a Canadian railroad will neither break nor preserve a current connection. In some cases, a current connection may be deemed for survivor benefit purposes for employees with 25 years of service who were involuntarily terminated without fault from the rail industry on or after Oct.1, 1975, and did not thereafter decline an offer of employment in the same class or craft in the rail industry, regardless of the distance to the new position. Once a current connection is established at the time the railroad retirement annuity begins, an employee never loses it no matter what kind of work is performed thereafter.

Question: What if these service requirements are not met?

If a deceased employee did not have an insured status, jurisdiction of any survivor benefits payable is transferred to the Social Security Administration and survivor benefits are paid by that agency instead of the RRB. Regardless of which agency has jurisdiction, the deceased employee's railroad retirement and Social Security credits will be combined for benefit computation purposes.

Question: What are the age and other eligibility requirements for widow(er)s?

Widow(er)s' benefits are payable at age 60 or over. They are payable at any age if the widow(er) is caring for an unmarried child under age 18 of the deceased employee or a disabled child of any age who became permanently disabled before age 22. Widow(er)s' benefits are also payable at ages 50-59 if the widow(er) is totally and permanently disabled and unable to work in any regular employment. The disability must have begun within seven years after the employee's death or within seven years after the termination of an annuity based on caring for a child of the deceased employee, or seven years after the termination of an earlier entitlement to a disability annuity.

In most cases, a five-month waiting period is required after the onset of disability before disability payments can begin. Generally, the widow(er) must have been married to the employee for at least nine months prior to death, unless she or he was the natural parent of their child, the employee's death was accidental or while on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, the widow(er) was potentially entitled to certain Railroad Retirement or Social Security benefits in the month before the month of death, or the marriage was postponed due to state restrictions on divorce due to mental incompetence or similar incapacity.

Question: Can surviving divorced spouses and remarried widow(er)s also qualify for benefits?

Survivor benefits may also be payable to a surviving divorced spouse or remarried widow(er) under certain conditions, but benefits are limited to Social Security level tier I amounts and, therefore, are generally less than the total of the tier I and tier II benefit amounts the RRB would otherwise pay.

However, a former spouse may be paid a court-ordered partition amount. A surviving divorced spouse may qualify for Social Security level tier I benefits if she or he was married to the employee for at least 10 years, and is age 60 or older (age 50 if disabled).

A surviving divorced spouse who is unmarried can qualify at any age if caring for the employee's child and the child is under age 16 or disabled, in which case the 10-year marriage requirement does not apply. A widow(er) or surviving divorced spouse who remarries after age 60, or a disabled widow(er) or disabled surviving divorced spouse who remarries after age 50 may also receive benefits; however, remarriage prior to age 60 (or age 50 if disabled) would not prevent eligibility if that remarriage ended. Such Social Security level benefits may also be paid to a younger widow(er) or surviving divorced spouse caring for the employee's child who is under age 16 or disabled, if the remarriage is to a person receiving Railroad Retirement or Social Security benefits or the remarriage ends.

Question: When are survivor benefits payable to children and other dependents?

Monthly survivor benefits are payable to an unmarried child under age 18, and to an unmarried child age 18 in full-time attendance at an elementary or secondary school or in approved homeschooling until the student attains age 19 or the end of the school term in progress when the student attains age 19. In most cases where a student attains age 19 during the school term, benefits are limited to the two months following the month age 19 is attained.

An unmarried disabled child over age 18 may qualify if the child became totally and permanently disabled before age 22. An unmarried dependent grandchild meeting any of these requirements may also qualify if both the grandchild's parents are deceased or disabled. Monthly survivor benefits are also payable to a surviving parent at age 60 who was dependent on the employee for at least half of the parent's support. If the employee was also survived by a widow(er), surviving divorced spouse or child who can qualify for benefits, the parent's annuity is limited to the tier I amount.

Applications for Railroad Retirement or survivor benefits are generally filed at one of the RRB's field offices, or with an RRB representative at one of the office's Customer OutReach Program (CORP) service locations, or by telephone and mail. Contact an RRB toll-free at 1-877-772-5772 or at www.rrb.gov. Most RRB offices are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, except on federal holidays.

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