{"data":{"id":"us/20-cfr-216.65","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"20 CFR 216.65","heading":"Who is an employee's widow(er).","body":"An individual who was married to the employee at the employee's death is the deceased employee's widow(er) if he or she:\n(a) Was married to the employee for at least 9 months before the day the employee died;\n(b) Is the natural parent of the employee's child;\n(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;\n(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\n(1) The employee's death was accidental;\n(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\n(3) The surviving spouse was previously married to the employee for at least 9 months;\n(e) Was entitled in the month before the month of marriage to either:\n(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\n(2) An annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act as a widow, widower, divorced spouse, or surviving divorced spouse, parent or disabled child; or\n(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.","path":["Title 20—Employees' Benefits","CHAPTER II—RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD","SUBCHAPTER B—REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT","PART 216—ELIGIBILITY FOR AN ANNUITY","Subpart G—Widow(er), Surviving Divorced Spouse, and Remarried Widow(er) Annuities"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-20.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:24:45Z","sha256":"138275906a53ca851f95f928244e3dd89ae727d80f20480838e5babec8df9722","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/20-cfr-216.64","next":"us/20-cfr-216.66"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}