The Railroad Retirement Act provides annuities for the widow(er), surviving divorced spouse, or remarried widow(er) of an employee. The deceased employee must have completed 10 years of railroad service and have had a current connection with the railroad industry at the time of his or her death. A widow(er), surviving divorced spouse, or remarried widow(er) may receive an annuity based on age, on disability, or on having a child of the employee in his or her care.

(a) A widow(er) of an employee who has completed 10 years of railroad service and had a current connection with the railroad industry at death is eligible for an annuity if he or she:

(1) Has not remarried; and either

(2) Has attained retirement age;

(3) Is at least 50 but less than 60 years of age and became disabled as defined in part 220 of this chapter before the end of the period described in § 216.68 (this results in a reduced annuity);

(4) Is less than retirement age but has in his or her care a child who either is under age 18 (16 with respect to the tier I component) or is disabled and who is entitled to an annuity under subpart H of this part; or

(5) Is at least 60 years of age but has not attained retirement age. (In this case, all components of the annuity are reduced for each month the widow(er) is age 62 or over but under retirement age when the annuity begins. For each month the widow(er) is at least age 60 but under age 62, all components of the annuity are reduced as if the widow(er) were age 62).

(a) A surviving divorced spouse of an employee who completed 10 years of railroad service and had a current connection with the railroad industry at death, is eligible for an annuity if he or she:

(1) Is unmarried;

(2) Is not entitled to an old-age benefit under the Social Security Act that is equal to or higher than the surviving divorced spouse's annuity before any reduction for age; and either

(3) Has attained retirement age;

(4) Is at least 50 years of age but less than retirement age and is disabled as defined in part 220 of this chapter before the end of the period described in § 216.68 (this results in a reduced annuity.);

(5) Is less than retirement age but has in his or her care a child who either is under age 16 or is disabled and who is entitled to an annuity under subpart H of this part; or

(6) Is at least 60 years of age but has not attained retirement age. In this case, the annuity is reduced for each month the surviving spouse is under retirement age when the annuity begins.

(b) A disabled surviving spouse's annuity is converted to an annuity based on age beginning the month he or she becomes 60 years old. The annuity rate does not change.

(c) If a surviving divorced spouse marries after attaining age 60 (or age 50 if he or she is a disabled surviving divorced spouse), such marriage shall be deemed not to have occurred.

(a) A widow(er) of an employee who completed 10 years of railroad service and had a current connection with the railroad industry at death is eligible for an annuity as a remarried widow(er) if he or she:

(1) Remarried either:

(i) After having attained age 60 (after age 50 if disabled); or

(ii) Before age 60 but the marriage terminated;

(2) Is not entitled to an old-age benefit under the Social Security Act that is equal to or higher than the full amount of the remarried widow(er)'s annuity before any reduction for age; and

(3) Has attained retirement age;

(4) Is at least 50 but less than 60 years of age and is disabled as defined in part 220 of this chapter before the end of the period described in § 216.68 (this results in a reduced annuity);

(5) Has not attained retirement age but has in his or her care a child who either is under age 16 or is disabled, and who is entitled to an annuity under subpart H of this part; or

(6) Is at least age 60 but has not attained retirement age. (In this case, the annuity is reduced for each month the remarried widow(er) is under retirement age when the annuity begins.)

(b) An individual entitled to a widow(er)'s annuity may be entitled to an annuity as a remarried widow(er) if he or she:

(1) Remarries after having attained age 60 (after age 50 if he or she has been determined to be disabled prior to his or her remarriage) and is not a surviving divorced spouse; or

(2) Is entitled to an annuity based upon having a child of the employee in his or her care and marries an individual entitled to a retirement, disability, widow(er)'s, mother's, father's, parent's, or disabled child's benefit under the Railroad Retirement Act or Social Security Act.

An eligible widow(er), surviving divorced spouse, or remarried widow(er) must:

(a) Apply to be entitled for an annuity; and

(b) Submit evidence requested by the Board to support his or her application.

An individual who was married to the employee at the employee's death is the deceased employee's widow(er) if he or she:

(a) Was married to the employee for at least 9 months before the day the employee died;

(b) Is the natural parent of the employee's child;

(c) Was married to the employee when either the employee or the widow(er) adopted the other's child, or they both legally adopted a child who was then under 18 years old;

(d) Was married to the employee less than 9 months before the employee died but, at the time of marriage, the employee was reasonably expected to live for 9 months; and

(1) The employee's death was accidental;

(2) The employee died in the line of duty while he or she was serving active duty as a member of armed forces of the United States; or

(3) The surviving spouse was previously married to the employee for at least 9 months;

(e) Was entitled in the month before the month of marriage to either:

(1) A benefit under section 202 of the Social Security Act as a widow, widower, spouse (divorced spouse, surviving divorced spouse), father, mother, parent, or disabled child; or

(2) An annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act as a widow, widower, divorced spouse, or surviving divorced spouse, parent or disabled child; or

(f) Could have been entitled to a benefit listed in paragraph (e) of this section, if the widow(er) had applied and been old enough to qualify therefor in the month before the month of marriage.

An individual who was married to the employee is the deceased employee's surviving divorced spouse if he or she:

(a) Was married to the employee for a period of at least 10 years immediately before the date the divorce became final, and applies for an annuity based on age or disability; or

(b) Applies for an annuity based on having a “child in care” and either:

(1) Is the natural parent of the employee's child;

(2) Was married to the employee at the time the employee or the surviving divorced spouse adopted the other's child who was then under 18 years old; or

(3) Was married to the employee at the time they adopted a child who was then under 18 years old.

(a) Railroad Retirement Act. Part 222 of this chapter sets forth what is required to establish that a child is in an individual's care for purposes of the Railroad Retirement Act. This definition is used to establish eligibility for the tier II component of a female spouse or widow(er) annuity under that Act. Under this definition a child must be under age 18 or under a disability before any benefit is payable based upon having the child in care.

(b) Social Security Act. In order to establish eligibility for the tier I components of a spouse or widow(er) annuity, and eligibility for a surviving divorced spouse annuity based upon having a child of the employee in care, the definition of “child in care” found in the Social Security Act is used. Under this definition, a child must be under age 16 or under a disability.

A widow(er), surviving divorced spouse, or remarried widow(er) who has a disability as defined in part 220 of this chapter is eligible for an annuity only if the disability began before the end of a period which:

(a) Begins in the later of:

(1) The month in which the employee died;

(2) The last month for which the widow(er) or surviving divorced spouse was entitled to an annuity for having the employee's child in care; or

(3) The last month for which the widow(er) or surviving divorced spouse was entitled to a previous annuity based on disability; and

(b) Ends with the earlier of:

(1) The month before the month in which the widow(er) or surviving divorced spouse or remarried widow(er) become 60 years old; or

(2) The last day of the last month of a 7-year period (84 consecutive months) following the month in which the period began.