[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR228.17]

[Page 472-473]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
                  CHAPTER II--RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
 
PART 228_COMPUTATION OF SURVIVOR ANNUITIES--Table of Contents
 
                 Subpart B_The Tier I Annuity Component
 
Sec.  228.17  Adjustments to the widow(er)'s, disabled widow(er)'s, surviving 

divorced spouse's, and remarried widow(er)'s tier I annuity amount.

    (a) If the employee died before attaining age 62 and after 1978 and 
the widow(er), disabled widow(er), remarried widow(er), or surviving 
divorced spouse is first eligible after 1984, the Board will compute the 
tier I annuity amount as if the employee had not died but had reached 
age 62 in the second year after the indexing year (see Sec.  225.2 of 
this chapter); provided, however, that if the employee was entitled to a 
primary insurance amount based on average monthly wages this section is 
not applicable. The indexing year is never earlier than the second year 
before the

[[Page 473]]

year of the employee's death. Except for this limitation it is the 
earlier of----
    (1) The year the employee attained age 60, or would have attained 
age 60 had the employee lived, and
    (2) The second year before the year in which the widow(er), 
remarried widow(er), or surviving divorced spouse becomes eligible for 
such an annuity, has attained age 60, or is age 50-59 and disabled.
    (b) The tier I annuity component is increased if the employee's 
annuity was increased or would have been increased based on delayed 
retirement credits (see Sec.  225.36 of this chapter).
    (c) The tier I annuity component is reduced if the employee had been 
entitled to an age reduced annuity, including an annuity based on 30 
years of service, which is reduced for age because it began before the 
employee attained age 62. In this instance, the widow(er)'s, remarried 
widow(er)'s, or surviving divorced spouse's tier I annuity component 
after applying any reduction for age is further reduced to the larger of 
amount the employee would have received as a tier I annuity component if 
still alive or 82\1/2\ percent of his or her primary insurance amount.