(a) Except as provided in § 843.312, if an employee or Member dies after completing at least 18 months of civilian service creditable under subpart C of part 842 of this chapter and is survived by a current spouse who meets the requirements of § 843.303, the current spouse is entitled to the basic employee death benefit equal to the sum of—

(1) Fifty percent of the final annual rate of basic pay (or of the average pay, if higher) of the employee; and

(2) Fifteen thousand dollars as adjusted under section 8462 of title 5, United States Code.

(b) The current spouse may elect to receive the basic employee death benefit in one of the following forms—

(1) A one-time payment; or

(2) For deaths occurring on or after October 1, 2021, 36 equal monthly installments of 2.94259 percent of the amount of the basic employee death benefit.

(c)(1)(i) A current spouse who has elected to receive the basic employee death benefit in 36 installments under paragraph (b)(2) of this section may elect to receive the remaining portion of the basic employee death benefit in one payment.

(ii) The election to receive the remaining portion of the basic employee death benefit in one payment must be in writing and signed by the current spouse.

(iii) The election to receive the remaining portion of the basic employee death benefit in one payment is irrevocable when OPM authorizes the payment.

(2) Upon the death of a current spouse who was receiving the basic employee death benefit in 36 installments under paragraph (b)(2) of this section, the remaining portion of the basic employee death benefit will be paid as one payment to the estate of the current spouse.

(3) As used in this section, “remaining portion of the basic employee death benefit” means the amount of the basic employee death benefit computed under paragraph (a) of this section that has not been paid. The amount is the remaining principal computed based on an amortization schedule with the initial principal equal to the amount computed under paragraph (a) of this section and the interest rate based on the applicable factor under paragraph (b)(2) of this section.