28 U.S.C. § 376 : US Code - Section 376: Annuities for survivors of certain judicial officials of the United States

Search 28 U.S.C. § 376 : US Code - Section 376: Annuities for survivors of certain judicial officials of the United States

(a) For the purposes of this section -
(1) "judicial official" means:
(A) a Justice or judge of the United States, as defined by
section 451 of this title;
(B) a judge of the District Court of Guam, the District Court
of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the District Court of the
Virgin Islands;
(C) a Director of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts, after he or she has filed a waiver under
subsection (a) of section 611 of this title;
(D) a Director of the Federal Judicial Center, after he or
she has filed a waiver under subsection (a) of section 627 of
this title;
(E) an administrative assistant to the Chief Justice of the
United States, after he or she has filed a waiver in accordance
with both subsection (a) of section 677 and subsection (a) of
section 611 of this title;
(F) a full-time bankruptcy judge or a full-time United States
magistrate judge; or
(G) a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims;
who notifies the Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts in writing of his or her intention to come
within the purview of this section within six months after (i)
the date upon which he or she takes office, (ii) the date upon
which he or she marries, (iii) January 1, 1977, (iv) October 1,
1986, (v) the date of the enactment of the Retirement and
Survivors' Annuities for Bankruptcy Judges and Magistrates Act of
1988, in the case of a full-time bankruptcy judge or United
States magistrate judge in active service on that date, (vi) the
date of the enactment of the Federal Courts Study Committee
Implementation Act of 1990, in the case of a full-time judge of
the Court of Federal Claims in active service on that date, or
(vii) the date of the enactment of the Federal Courts
Administration Act of 1992;
(2) "retirement salary" means:
(A) in the case of a Justice or judge of the United States,
as defined by section 451 of this title, salary paid (i) after
retirement from regular active service under subsection (b) of
section 371 or subsection (a) of section 372 of this title, or
(ii) after retirement from office by resignation on salary
under subsection (a) of section 371 of this title;
(B) in the case of a judge of the District Court of Guam, the
District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the District
Court of the Virgin Islands, (i) an annuity paid under
subsection (a) of section 373 of this title or (ii)
compensation paid under paragraph (4) of subsection (c) of
section 373 of this title;
(C) in the case of a Director of the Administrative Office of
the United States Courts, an annuity paid under subsection (b)
or (c) of section 611 of this title;
(D) in the case of a Director of the Federal Judicial Center,
an annuity paid under subsection (b) or (c) of section 627 of
this title;
(E) in the case of an administrative assistant to the Chief
Justice of the United States, an annuity paid in accordance
with both subsection (a) of section 677 and subsection (a) of
section 611 of this title;
(F) in the case of a bankruptcy judge or United States
magistrate judge, an annuity paid under section 377 of this
title; and
(G) in the case of a judge of the United States Court of
Federal Claims, an annuity paid under section 178 of this
title;
(3) "widow" means the surviving wife of a "judicial official",
who:
(A) has been married to him for at least one year on the day
of his death; or
(B) is the mother of issue by that marriage;
(4) "widower" means the surviving husband of a "judicial
official", who:
(A) has been married to her for at least one year on the day
of her death; or
(B) is the father of issue by that marriage;
(5) "child" means:
(A) an unmarried child under eighteen years of age, including
(i) an adopted child and (ii) a stepchild or recognized natural
child who lived with the judicial official in a regular parent-
child relationship;
(B) such unmarried child between eighteen and twenty-two
years of age who is a student regularly pursuing a full-time
course of study or training in residence in a high school,
trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior
college, college, university, or comparable educational
institution. A child whose twenty-second birthday occurs before
July 1, or after August 31, of a calendar year, and while he or
she is regularly pursuing such a course of study or training,
is deemed to have become twenty-two years of age on the first
day of July immediately following that birthday. A child who is
a student is deemed not to have ceased being a student during
an interim period between school years, if that interim period
lasts no longer than five consecutive months and if that child
shows, to the satisfaction of the Director of the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts, that he or
she has a bona fide intention of continuing to pursue a course
of study or training in the same or a different school during
the school semester, or other period into which the school year
is divided, immediately following that interim period; or
(C) such unmarried child, regardless of age, who is incapable
of self-support because of a mental or physical disability
incurred either (i) before age eighteen, or (ii) in the case of
a child who is receiving an annuity as a full-time student
under paragraph (5)(B) of this subsection, before the
termination of that annuity;
(6) "former spouse" means a former spouse of a judicial
official if the former spouse was married to such judicial
official for at least 9 months; and
(7) "assassinated" and "assassination" mean the killing of a
judicial official described in paragraph (1)(A), (B), (F), or (G)
of this subsection that is motivated by the performance by that
judicial official of his or her official duties.
(b)(1) Every judicial official who files a written notification
of his or her intention to come within the purview of this section,
in accordance with paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this section,
shall be deemed thereby to consent and agree to having deducted and
withheld from his or her salary a sum equal to 2.2 percent of that
salary, and a sum equal to 3.5 percent of his or her retirement
salary. The deduction from any retirement salary -
(A) of a justice or judge of the United States retired from
regular active service under section 371(b) or section 372(a) of
this title,
(B) of a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims
retired under section 178 of this title, or
(C) of a judicial official on recall under section 155(b),
373(c)(4), 375, or 636(h) of this title,
shall be an amount equal to 2.2 percent of retirement salary.
(2) A judicial official who is not entitled to receive an
immediate retirement salary upon leaving office but who is eligible
to receive a deferred retirement salary on a later date shall file,
within 90 days before leaving office, a written notification of his
or her intention to remain within the purview of this section under
such conditions and procedures as may be determined by the Director
of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Every
judicial official who files a written notification in accordance
with this paragraph shall be deemed to consent to contribute,
during the period before such a judicial official begins to receive
his or her retirement salary, a sum equal to 3.5 percent of the
deferred retirement salary which that judicial official is entitled
to receive. Any judicial official who fails to file a written
notification under this paragraph shall be deemed to have revoked
his or her election under subsection (a) of this section.
(3) The amounts deducted and withheld from the salary of each
judicial official under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection
shall, in accordance with such procedures as may be prescribed by
the Comptroller General of the United States, be covered into the
Treasury of the United States and credited to the "Judicial
Survivors' Annuities Fund" established by section 3 of the Judicial
Survivors' Annuities Reform Act. Such fund shall be used for the
payment of annuities, refunds, and allowances as provided by this
section. Payment of such salary less such deductions (and any
deductions made under section 178 or 377 of this title or under
subchapter III of chapter 83, or chapter 84, of title 5) shall be a
full and complete discharge and acquittance of all claims and
demands whatsoever for all services rendered by such judicial
official during the period covered by such payment, except the
rights to those benefits to which such judicial official, or his or
her survivors, shall be entitled under the provisions of this
section (and under section 178 or 377 of this title or under
subchapter III of chapter 83, or chapter 84, of title 5).
(c)(1) There shall also be deposited to the credit of the
Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund, in accordance with such
procedures as the Comptroller General of the United States may
prescribe, amounts required to reduce to zero the unfunded
liability of the Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund: Provided, That
such amounts shall not exceed the equivalent of 9 percent of salary
or retirement salary. Such deposits shall, subject to
appropriations Acts, be taken from the fund used to pay the
compensation of the judicial official, and shall immediately become
an integrated part of the Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund for
any use required under this section.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term "unfunded liability"
means the estimated excess, determined on an annual basis in
accordance with the provisions of section 9503 of title 31, United
States Code, of the present value of all benefits payable from the
Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund, over the sum of -
(A) the present value of deductions to be withheld from the
future basic pay of judicial officials; plus
(B) the balance in the Fund as of the date the unfunded
liability is determined.
In making any determination under this paragraph, the Comptroller
General shall use the applicable information contained in the
reports filed pursuant to section 9503 of title 31, United States
Code, with respect to the judicial survivors' annuities plan
established by this section.
(3) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this subsection.
(d) Each judicial official shall deposit, with interest at 4
percent per annum to December 31, 1947, and at 3 percent per annum
thereafter, compounded on December 31 of each year, to the credit
of the "Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund":
(1) a sum equal to 3.5 percent of that salary, including
"retirement salary", which he or she has received for serving in
any of the offices designated in paragraph (1) of subsection (a)
of this section prior to the date upon which he or she filed
notice of an intention to come within the purview of this section
with the Director of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts; and
(2) a sum equal to 3.5 percent of the basic salary, pay, or
compensation which he or she has received for serving as a
Senator, Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner in
Congress, or for serving as an "employee", as that term is
defined in subsection (1) of section 8331 of title 5, prior to
assuming the responsibilities of any of the offices designated in
paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this section.
The interest otherwise required by this subsection shall not be
required for any period during which a judicial official was
separated from all such service and was not receiving any
retirement salary.
Each such judicial official may elect to make such deposits in
installments, during the continuance of his or her service in those
offices designated in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this
section, in such amounts and under such conditions as may be
determined in each instance by the Director of the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts: Provided, That, in each
instance in which a judicial official does elect to make such
deposits in installments, the Director shall require (i) that the
first installment payment made shall be in an amount no smaller
than that amount necessary to cover at least the last eighteen
months of prior creditable civilian service, and (ii) that at least
one additional installment payment shall be made every eighteen
months thereafter until the total of all such deposits have been
made.
Notwithstanding the failure of any such judicial official to make
all such deposits or installment payments, credit shall be allowed
for the service rendered, but the annuity of that judicial
official's widow or widower shall be reduced by an amount equal to
10 percent of the amount of such deposits, computed as of the date
of the death of such judicial official, unless such widow or
widower shall elect to eliminate such service entirely from credit
under subsection (k) of this section: Provided, That no deposit
shall be required from any such judicial official for any honorable
active duty service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or
Coast Guard of the United States, or for any other creditable
service rendered prior to August 1, 1920.
(e) The amounts deducted and withheld in accordance with
subsection (b) of this section, and the amounts deposited in
accordance with subsection (d) of this section, shall be credited
to individual accounts in the name of each judicial official from
whom such amounts are received, for credit to the "Judicial
Survivors' Annuities Fund".
(f) The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest, from time to
time, in interest bearing securities of the United States or
Federal farm loan bonds, those portions of the "Judicial Survivors'
Annuities Fund" which in his judgment may not be immediately
required for the payment of annuities, refunds, and allowances as
provided in this section. The income derived from such investments
shall constitute a part of such fund for the purposes of paying
annuities and carrying out the provisions of subsections (g), (h),
(m), (o), (p), and (q) of this section.
(g) If any judicial official leaves office and is ineligible to
receive a retirement salary or leaves office and is entitled to a
deferred retirement salary but fails to make an election under
subsection (b)(2) of this section, all amounts credited to his or
her account established under subsection (e), together with
interest at 4 percent per annum to December 31, 1947, and at 3
percent per annum thereafter, compounded on December 31 of each
year, to the date of his or her relinquishment of office, minus a
sum equal to 2.2 percent of salary for service while deductions
were withheld under subsection (b) or for which a deposit was made
by the judicial official under subsection (d), shall be returned to
that judicial official in a lump-sum payment within a reasonable
period of time following the date of his or her relinquishment of
office. For the purposes of this section, a "reasonable period of
time" shall be presumed to be no longer than 1 year following the
date upon which such judicial official relinquishes his or her
office.
(h) Annuities payable under this section shall be paid only in
accordance with the following provisions:
(1) In any case in which a judicial official dies while in
office, while receiving retirement salary, or after filing an
election and otherwise complying with the conditions under
subsection (b)(2) of this section (A) after having completed at
least eighteen months of creditable civilian service, as computed
in accordance with subsection (k) of this section, for the last
eighteen months of which the salary deductions provided by
subsection (b) of this section or, in lieu thereof, the deposits
required by subsection (d) of this section have actually been
made, or (B) if the death of such judicial official was by
assassination, before having satisfied the requirements of clause
(A) if, for the period of such service, the deductions provided
by subsection (b) or, in lieu thereof, the deposits required by
subsection (d) have actually been made -
(i) if such judicial official is survived by a widow or
widower, but not by a child, there shall be paid to such widow
or widower an annuity, beginning on the day on which such
judicial official died, in an amount computed as provided in
subsection (l) of this section; or
(ii) if such judicial official is survived by a widow or
widower and a child or children, there shall be paid to such
widow or widower an annuity, beginning on the day on which such
judicial official died, in an amount computed as provided in
subsection (l) of this section, and there shall also be paid to
or on behalf of each such child an immediate annuity equal to:
(I) 10 percent of the average annual salary determined
under subsection (l)(1) of this section; or
(II) 20 percent of such average annual salary, divided by
the number of children;
whichever is smallest; or
(iii) if such judicial official leaves no surviving widow or
widower, but does leave a surviving child or children, there
shall be paid to or on behalf of each such child an immediate
annuity equal to:
(I) the amount of the annuity to which the judicial
official's widow or widower would have been entitled under
clause (i) of this paragraph, had such widow or widower
survived the judicial official, divided by the number of
children; or
(II) 20 percent of the average annual salary determined
under subsection (l)(1) of this section; or
(III) 40 percent of such average annual salary amount,
divided by the number of children;
whichever is smallest.
(2) An annuity payable to a widow or widower under clause (i)
or (ii) of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be terminated
upon his or her death or remarriage before attaining age 55.
(3) An annuity payable to a child under this subsection shall
terminate:
(A) if such child is receiving an annuity based upon his or
her status under paragraph (5)(A) of subsection (a) of this
section, on the last day of the month during which he or she
becomes eighteen years of age;
(B) if such child is receiving an annuity based upon his or
her status under paragraph (5)(B) of subsection (a) of this
section, either (i) on the first day of July immediately
following his or her twenty-second birthday or (ii) on the last
day of the month during which he or she ceases to be a full-
time student in accordance with paragraph (5)(B) of subsection
(a) of this section, whichever occurs first: Provided, That if
such child is rendered incapable of self-support because of a
mental or physical disability incurred while receiving that
annuity, that annuity shall not terminate, but shall continue
without interruption and shall be deemed to have become, as of
the date of disability, an annuity based upon his or her status
under clause (ii) of paragraph (5)(C) of subsection (a) of this
section;
(C) if such child is receiving an annuity based upon his or
her status under paragraph (5)(C) of subsection (a) of this
section, on the last day of the month during which he or she
ceases to be incapable of self-support because of mental or
physical disability; or
(D) on the last day of the month during which such child dies
or marries.
(4) An annuity payable to a child or children under paragraph
(1)(ii) of this subsection shall be recomputed and paid as
provided in paragraph (1)(iii) of this subsection upon the death,
but not upon the remarriage, of the widow or widower who is
receiving an annuity under paragraph (1)(ii) of this subsection.
(5) In any case in which the annuity of a child is terminated,
the annuity of each remaining child which is based upon the
service of the same judicial official shall be recomputed and
paid as though the child whose annuity has been terminated had
not survived that judicial official.
(6) In the case of the survivor or survivors of a judicial
official to whom paragraph (1)(B) applies, there shall be
deducted from the annuities otherwise payable under this section
an amount equal to the amount of salary deductions that would
have been made if such deductions had been made for 18 months
prior to the judicial official's death.
(i)(1) All questions of dependency and disability arising under
this section shall be determined by the Director of the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts, subject to
review only by the Judicial Conference of the United States, and
the decision of the Judicial Conference of the United States shall
be final and conclusive. The Director may order or direct at any
time such medical or other examinations as he deems necessary to
determine the facts relative to the nature and degree of disability
of any child who is an annuitant, or an applicant for an annuity,
under this section, and may suspend or deny any such annuity for
failure to submit to any such examination.
(2) The Director of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts shall determine whether the killing of a judicial
official was an assassination, subject to review only by the
Judicial Conference of the United States. The head of any Federal
agency that investigates the killing of a judicial official shall
provide information to the Director that would assist the Director
in making such determination.
(j) In any case in which a payment under this section is to be
made to a minor, or to a person mentally incompetent or under other
legal disability, as determined by a court of competent
jurisdiction, such payment may be made to the person who is
constituted guardian or other fiduciary of such claimant by the
laws of the State of residence of such claimant, or to any other
person who is otherwise legally vested with the care of the
claimant or of the claimant's estate, and need not be made directly
to such claimant. The Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts may, at his or her discretion, determine
whether such payment is made directly to such claimant or to such
guardian, fiduciary, or other person legally vested with the care
of such claimant or the claimant's estate. Where no guardian or
other fiduciary of such minor or such person under legal disability
has been appointed under the laws of the State of residence of such
claimant, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts shall determine the person who is otherwise legally
vested with the care of the claimant or of the claimant's estate.
(k) The years of service rendered by a judicial official which
may be creditable in calculating the amount of an annuity for such
judicial official's widow or widower under subsection (l) of this
section shall include -
(1) those years during which such judicial official served in
any of the offices designated in paragraph (1) of subsection (a)
of this section, including in the case of a Justice or judge of
the United States those years during which he or she continued to
hold office following retirement from regular active service
under section 371 or subsection (a) of section 372 of this title;
(2) those years during which such judicial official served as a
Senator, Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner in
Congress, prior to assuming the responsibilities of any of the
offices designated in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this
section;
(3) those years during which such judicial official honorably
served on active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps,
or Coast Guard of the United States, prior to assuming the
responsibilities of any of the offices designated in paragraph
(1) of subsection (a) of this section: Provided, That those years
of such military service for which credit has been allowed for
the purposes of retirement or retired pay under any other
provision of law shall not be included as allowable years of such
service under this section;
(4) those years during which such judicial official served as
an "employee", as that term is defined in subsection (1) of
section 8331 of title 5, prior to assuming the responsibilities
of any of the offices designated in paragraph (1) of subsection
(a) of this section,(!1) and
(5) those years during which such judicial official had
deductions withheld from his or her retirement salary in
accordance with subsection (b)(1) or (2) of this section.
For the purposes of this subsection the term "years" shall mean
full years and twelfth parts thereof, excluding from the aggregate
any fractional part of a month which numbers less than fifteen full
days and including, as one full month, any fractional part of a
month which numbers fifteen full days or more. Nothing in this
subsection shall be interpreted as waiving or canceling that
reduction in the annuity of a widow or widower which is required by
subsection (d) of this section due to the failure of a judicial
official to make those deposits required by subsection (d) of this
section.
(l) The annuity of a widow or widower of a judicial official
shall be an amount equal to the sum of -
(1) 1.5 percent of the average annual salary, including
retirement salary, which such judicial official received for
serving in any of the offices designated in paragraph (1) of
subsection (a) of this section (i) during those three years of
such service, or during those three years while receiving a
retirement salary, in which his or her annual salary or
retirement salary was greatest, or (ii) if such judicial official
has so served less than three years, then during the total period
of such service prior to his or her death, multiplied by the
total of:
(A) the number of years of creditable service tabulated in
accordance with paragraph (1) of subsection (k) of this
section; plus
(B) the number of years of creditable service tabulated in
accordance with paragraph (2) of subsection (k) of this
section; plus
(C) the number of years of creditable service tabulated in
accordance with paragraph (3) of subsection (k) of this
section; plus
(D) the number of years during which the judicial official
had deductions withheld from his or her retirement salary under
subsection (b)(1) or (2) of this section; plus
(E) the number of years up to, but not exceeding, fifteen of
creditable service tabulated in accordance with paragraph (4)
of subsection (k) of this section,
plus:
(2) three-fourths of 1 percent of such average annual salary,
multiplied by the number of years of any prior creditable
service, as tabulated in accordance with subsection (k) of this
section, not applied under paragraph (1) of this subsection;
except that such annuity shall not exceed an amount equal to 50
percent of such average annual salary, nor be less than an amount
equal to 25 percent of such average annual salary. Any annuity
determined in accordance with the provisions of this subsection
shall be reduced to the extent required by subsection (d) of this
section, and by the amount of any annuity payable to a former
spouse under subsection (t).
(m) Each time that an increase is made under section 8340(b) of
title 5 in annuities paid under subchapter III of chapter 83 of
such title, each annuity payable from the Judicial Survivors'
Annuities Fund shall be increased at the same time by the same
percentage by which annuities are increased under that section.
(n) Each annuity authorized under this section shall accrue
monthly and shall be due and payable in monthly installments on the
first business day of the month following the month or other period
for which the annuity shall have accrued. No annuity authorized
under this section shall be assignable, either in law or in equity,
except as provided in subsections (s) and (t), or subject to
execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process.
(o)(1) In any case in which a judicial official dies while in
office, while receiving retirement salary, or after filing an
election and otherwise complying with the conditions under
subsection (b)(2) of this section, and;
(A) subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, before having
completed eighteen months of civilian service, computed in
accordance with subsection (k) of this section, during which the
salary deductions provided by subsection (b) of this section or
the deposit required by subsection (d) of this section have
actually been made; or
(B) after having completed eighteen months of civilian service,
computed in accordance with subsection (k) of this section,
during which all such deductions or deposits have been made, but
without a survivor or survivors who are entitled to receive the
annuity benefits provided by subsection (h) or (t) of this
section; or
(C) the rights of all persons entitled to receive the annuity
benefits provided by subsection (h) or (t) of this section
terminate before a valid claim therefor has been established;
the total amount credited to the individual account of that
judicial official, established under subsection (e) of this
section, with interest at 4 percent per annum to December 31, 1947,
and at 3 percent per annum thereafter, compounded on December 31,
of each year, to the date of that judicial official's death, shall
be paid, upon the establishment of a valid claim therefor, to the
person or persons surviving at the date title to the payment
arises, in the following order of precedence:
First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries whom that judicial
official may have designated in a writing received by the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts prior to his or
her death;
Second, if there be no such beneficiary, to the widow or
widower of such judicial official;
Third, if none of the above, to the child or children of such
judicial official and the descendants of any deceased children by
representation;
Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of such judicial
official or the survivor of them;
Fifth, if none of the above, to the duly appointed executor,
executrix, administrator, or administratrix of the estate of such
judicial official;
Sixth, if none of the above, to such other next of kin of such
judicial official, as may be determined by the Director of the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts to be entitled
to such payment, under the laws of the domicile of such judicial
official, at the time of his or her death.
Such payment shall be a bar to recovery by any other person. For
the purposes of this subsection only, a determination that an
individual is a widow, widower, or child of a judicial official may
be made by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts without regard to the definitions of those terms
contained in paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (a) of this
section.
(2) In cases in which a judicial official dies as a result of
assassination and leaves a survivor or survivors who are entitled
to receive the annuity benefits provided by subsection (h) or (t)
of this section, paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection shall not
apply.
(p) In any case in which all the annuities which are authorized
by this section and based upon the service of a given official
terminate before the aggregate amount of annuity payments received
by the annuitant or annuitants equals the total amount credited to
the individual account of such judicial official, established under
subsection (e) of this section with interest at 4 percent per annum
to December 31, 1947, and at 3 percent per annum thereafter,
compounded on December 31, of each year, to the date of that
judicial official's death, the difference between such total
amount, with such interest, and such aggregate amount shall be
paid, upon establishment of a valid claim therefor, in the order of
precedence prescribed in subsection (o) of this section.
(q) Any accrued annuity benefits remaining unpaid upon the
termination of an annuity, other than by the death of an annuitant,
shall be paid to that annuitant. Any accrued annuity benefits
remaining unpaid upon the death of an annuitant shall be paid, upon
the establishment of a valid claim therefor, in the following order
of precedence:
First, to the duly appointed executor, executrix,
administrator, or administratrix of the estate of such annuitant;
Second, if there is no such executor, executrix, administrator,
or administratrix, payments shall be made, after the expiration
of sixty days from the date of death of such annuitant, to such
individual or individuals as may appear, in the judgment of the
Director of the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts, to be legally entitled thereto, and such payment shall be
a bar to recovery by any other individual.
(r) Nothing contained in this section shall be interpreted to
prevent a widow or widower eligible for an annuity under this
section from simultaneously receiving such an annuity while also
receiving any other annuity to which such widow or widower may also
be entitled under any other law without regard to this section:
Provided, That service used in the computation of the annuity
conferred by this section shall not also be credited in computing
any such other annuity.
(s) A judicial official who has a former spouse may elect, under
procedures prescribed by the Director of the Administrative Office
of the United States Courts, to provide a survivor annuity for such
former spouse under subsection (t). An election under this
subsection shall be made at the time of retirement, or, if later,
within 2 years after the date on which the marriage of the former
spouse to the judicial official is dissolved. An election under
this subsection -
(1) shall not be effective to the extent that it -
(A) conflicts with -
(i) any court order or decree referred to in subsection
(t)(1), which was issued before the date of such election, or
(ii) any agreement referred to in such subsection which was
entered into before such date; or
(B) would cause the total of survivor annuities payable under
subsections (h) and (t) based on the service of the judicial
official to exceed 55 percent of the average annual salary (as
such term is used in subsection (l)) of such official; and
(2) shall not be effective, in the case of a judicial official
who is then married, unless it is made with the spouse's written
consent.
The Director of the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts shall provide by regulation that paragraph (2) of this
subsection may be waived if the judicial official establishes to
the satisfaction of the Director that the spouse's whereabouts
cannot be determined, or that, due to exceptional circumstances,
requiring the judicial official to seek the spouse's consent would
otherwise be inappropriate.
(t)(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) through (4) of this subsection,
a former spouse of a deceased judicial official is entitled to a
survivor annuity under this section if and to the extent expressly
provided for in an election under subsection (s), or in the terms
of any decree of divorce or annulment or any court order or court-
approved property settlement agreement incident to such decree.
(2) The annuity payable to a former spouse under this subsection
may not exceed the difference between -
(A) the maximum amount that would be payable as an annuity to a
widow or widower under subsection (l), determined without taking
into account any reduction of such annuity caused by payment of
an annuity to a former spouse; and
(B) the amount of any annuity payable under this subsection to
any other former spouse of the judicial official, based on an
election previously made under subsection (s), or a court order
previously issued.
(3) The commencement and termination of an annuity payable under
this subsection shall be governed by the terms of the applicable
order, decree, agreement, or election, as the case may be, except
that any such annuity -
(A) shall not commence before -
(i) the day after the judicial official dies, or
(ii) the first day of the second month beginning after the
date on which the Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts receives written notice of the order,
decree, agreement, or election, as the case may be, together
with such additional information or documentation as the
Director may prescribe,
whichever is later, and
(B) shall terminate no later than the last day of the month
before the former spouse remarries before becoming 55 years of
age or dies.
(4) For purposes of this section, a modification in a decree,
order, agreement, or election referred to in paragraph (1) of this
subsection shall not be effective -
(A) if such modification is made after the retirement of the
judicial official concerned, and
(B) to the extent that such modification involves an annuity
under this subsection.
(u) In the case of a judicial official who is assassinated, an
annuity shall be paid under this section notwithstanding a
survivor's eligibility for or receipt of benefits under chapter 81
of title 5, except that the annuity for which a surviving spouse is
eligible under this section shall be reduced to the extent that the
total benefits paid under this section and chapter 81 of title 5
for any year would exceed the current salary for that year of the
office of the judicial official.
(v) Subject to the terms of a decree, court order, or agreement
described in subsection (t)(1), if any judicial official ceases to
be married after making the election under subsection (a), he or
she may revoke such election in writing by notifying the Director
of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The
judicial official shall also notify any spouse or former spouse of
the application for revocation in accordance with such requirements
as the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts shall by regulation prescribe. The Director may provide
under such regulations that the notification requirement may be
waived with respect to a spouse or former spouse if the judicial
official establishes to the satisfaction of the Director that the
whereabouts of such spouse or former spouse cannot be determined.
(w) The Comptroller General of the United States shall, at the
end of each 3-fiscal year period, determine whether the
contributions by judicial officials under subsection (b) during
that 3-year period accounted for 50 percent of the costs of the
Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund and if not, then what
adjustments in the contribution rates under subsection (b) should
be made to achieve that 50 percent figure. The Comptroller General
shall report the results of each determination under this
subsection to the Congress.