Effective 1/1/57, civil service survivor annuitants (surviving spouses and children)
whose annuities are based in part on MS before 1/1/57, are permitted to waive their
civil service annuities in order to receive SS credit for the MS. The wage credits
may then be used for eligibility and computation purposes in the initial award or
for recomputation.
The waiver applies to the entire annuity; i.e., it applies to the part which is based
on civilian Federal service as well as that part which is based on pre-1957 MS. The
waiver may be executed when the survivor annuity is first payable or at some later
time. MS wage credits are granted effective with the month the OPM survivor annuity
ends.
While waivers of annuities are provided for under civil service law and such waivers
may be revoked, a waiver does not alter the use of MS by OPM in a benefit determination
(which bars SS MS wage credits) except in the case of a survivor. The SS Act provides
for this exception and its irrevocability.
An annuity waiver by the retired worker would not permit SS MS wage credits. If the
retired annuitant was ever entitled to a benefit based in part on the pre-1957 MS
during their lifetime, the exception does not operate since it only applies to an
OPM survivor annuity benefit determination, and not to a survivor benefit as a result
of an annuitant's election.
If there is no surviving spouse, a child will never waive an annuity for SS wage credit
purposes since OPM does not use MS to compute a child's survivor annuity.