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1025.10 SPAR (Spouse Partial Annuity Rate)

Purpose - To expedite payment in initial spouse cases, compute a partial rate at the 

time you take an application and enter the rate on the Form G-626 screen except when:

1. The spouse's entitlement is based on a minor or disabled child; or

NOTE: For this exception, contact RIS by e-mail to have them review the case to 

determine if a possible partial payment can be made once eligibility is 

determined.

2. The application is for a divorced spouse annuity; or

3. The spouse is included in the O/M computation of the employee's annuity or is 

entitled to a remarried widow(er)'s insurance annuity.

1025.10.1 How to Compute SPAR Amount

For spouses of retired employees, use the data available on PREH of the RRAPID Main 

Menu to determine the employee's tier I, tier II and other entitlement data. For spouses 

of retiring employees, use the Tier data available on the latest MARC file. 

Step 1

Gross Tier I - Tier I should not be included in the SPAR in certain cases. Enter zero if:

• The EE is disabled, under FRA, with a worker’s compensation (WC) or public 

disability benefit (PDB).

In other cases, enter one-half the employee's tier I PIA before: 

• Delayed retirement credits (DRC); or

• Age reduction, when both the employee and spouse are over age 62.

DRC consideration - When the employee is over FRA on his ABD, and thus entitled to 

DRCs, use the tier I PIA from the MARC or the PREH screen TIER I INFORMATION 

(T1).

Reduced 60/30 exception - In reduced 60/30 cases, if the employee or spouse is under 

age 62 on the spouse's ABD, enter one-half the employee's ABD tier I amount after age 

reduction. This reduced tier 1 applies even if the spouse's annuity is based on age or a 

child in care.

NOTE: If the employee is in final payment status, you should be able to secure the 

ABD PIA I and 60/30 age reduction amount for the ABD tier I from the PREH screen 
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entitled RHHSKP (3270) 1 of 1. The reduced 60/30 spouse Tier I is one-half of the net 

ABD Tier I (PIA-I-AT-ABD-AMT less ABD-AGE-RED-AMT).

Round the resulting gross tier 1 down to the dollar.

Step 2

Adjustment for EE's Duplicate Earnings and/or NCSP: 

A. EE's Duplicate earnings - Make a reduction for erroneously posted wages if you 

use the MARC tier I and the employee worked for one of the following employers 

during the years shown:

ALSO SEE THE VDB INSTRUCTIONS in FOM-1-1015.5.4 IF BEG. & END "*" IS 

SHOWN

RAILROAD BA # YEARS

A.T. & S.F. Employees' Benefit Assn. 9702 1978 to 80

Atlantic Land and Improvement Co. 9517 1972 or later*

Association of American Railroads 7304 1985 - 85

Baltimore and Annapolis RR Co. 5402 1978 - 78

Bessemer and Lake Erie RR Co. 1303 1978 or later

Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerk 8922 1978 - 85

Canton Railroad Co. 4310 1978 - 89

Clarendon and Pittsford RR Co. 2103 1978 - 78

Colorado and Wyoming Railway Co. 1724 1980 - 85

Conemaugh and Black Lick RR Co. 4320 1984 - 85

Cybernetics and Systems 9518 1972 or later*

Delaware and Hudson Railway Co. 1203 1987 - 88

Florida East Coast Inspection, Inc. 7529 1969 or later*

Fruit Growers Express 6401 1978 - 85

Genesee and Wyoming RR Co. 2209 1989 - 89
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Gettysburg Railroad Co. 2331 1982 - 89

Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown RR Co. 2807 1987 or later

Hamburg Industries 9512 1974 or later*

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace 

Workers

8907 1978 - 84

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and 

Blacksmiths

8908 1978 - 78

Livingston Rebuild Center, Inc. 9619 1990 or later

Maine Central RR Co. 1107 1988 or later

National Railroad Passenger Corp. 8301 1978 - 80

New Orleans Public Belt Railroad 4525 1985 - 89

New York, Susquehanna and Western RR 3251 1978 or later

Northern Railroad 8056 1988 or later

Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England RR Co. 4343 1984 - 84

Pittsburgh and Conneaut Dock Co. 4249 1979 - 79

Pittsburgh and Shawmut RR Co. 2234 1983 - 83

Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. 5219 1978 - 78

Providence and Worcester RR Co. 8093 1987 or later

RSTX, Inc. 9831 1978 - 78

Railroad Concrete Crosstie Corp. 9515 1981 - 84

Railway Employee's Department of the American 

Federation of Labor

8913 1980 - 80

Sheet Metal Workers Int'l. Assn. 8911 1978 or later

Soo Line Railroad 1606 1978 - 78

Southwest Railway Equipment Corp. 9832 1967 or later*
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Springfield Terminal Ry. Co. 2112 1987 or later

Texas City Terminal Ry. Co. 4820 1989 or later

Texas Mexican Railway Co. 1821 1978 - 80

Trans Kentucky Transportation RR Co. 3587 1989 or later

United Transportation Union 8936 1978 or later

Vermont Railway, Inc. 2114 1978 - 84

Wabash Valley RR Co. 3326 1978 - 78

Washington Terminal Co. 4353 1981 - 81

Western Weighing Inspection Bureau 7225 1978 - 88

Wichita Terminal Assn. 4737 1989 - 89

Winchester and Western RR Co., Inc. 3412 1987 - 89

NOTE: The MARC file will show an "S" in column "D" if the employee worked for 

an employer which incorrectly reported compensation under both the SS and RR 

Acts. (Disregard codes "I" and T;" the PIA will not be overstated.)

Subtract $5.00 for each year that SSA may have posted RR compensation as 

wages. This reduction assures that the SPAR will be underestimated.

EXAMPLE: A former employee of Hamburg Industries had a date last worked in 

1979. He and his spouse are now filing simultaneously. SSA could have erred 

in 6 years. $30 should be deducted from the tier I amount.

B. Employee Entitled to a Non-covered Service Pension If the spouse is filing at the 

same time as the employee, or the employee has filed but is not yet in final pay 

status, the SPAR tier I amount must be reduced if the employee is receiving a 

non-covered service pension that does not qualify for exemption. Reduce the 

SPAR Tier I by one-half of the employee reduction amount.

If the employee is in final pay status, the reduction is incorporated into the 

employee's tier I amount, and therefore, no additional reduction needs to be 

applied to the SPAR amount.

Step 3Spouse PSP Reduction - Subtract 2/3 (.66667) of any public service pension 

being received or expected by the spouse.
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If the spouse has filed for PSP benefits, and has no idea of the amount due, or 

received a lump sum in lieu of monthly payments, deduct tier I in full.

NOTE 1: No reduction is necessary if the spouse received a lump-sum payment that 

was strictly a refund of contributions plus interest.

NOTE 2. No reduction in the final award is necessary in certain cases (see FOM-I120.40.4). Most commonly, a spouse annuity is exempt from PSP offset if the spouse 

was employed by a unit of state or local government, or a branch of the military service 

and had FICA taxes deducted on the last day of employment.

Step 4

Age Reduction - Calculate an age reduction in the following cases, if the spouse does 

not have a child in care:

• Reduced 60/30 - The employee was awarded a reduced 60/30 annuity, and both the 

employee and spouse attained age 62 before the month the spouse's annuity 

begins;

• Other reduced age cases - The spouse is age under FRA on her ABD and is not 

eligible for a 60/30 annuity.

Use the table in Appendix I of this article to determine the correct age reduction factor, 

which is based on the number of months the spouse is under FRA on the annuity 

beginning date. 

Step 5 

SS Benefit - Subtract the amount of the SS benefit being received or expected by the 

spouse. Use the rate shown on the SSA MBR. If the spouse has filed for SS benefits 

and has no idea of the amount due, subtract tier I in full and do not include a tier I in the 

SPAR.

Applicants should be questioned carefully concerning their intent to file at SSA, 

especially in advance filing situations. Make sure they understand that they could be 

overpaid if the temporary rate is not reduced for potential SS entitlement based on their 

own or any earnings record.

If the spouse claims filing or possible filing (i.e., age 65 and enrolled for Medicare), but 

also indicates that (s)he has cancelled or never received an SS benefit payment, 

continue to apply the SS benefit reduction. The final rate will accurately reflect current 

SS entitlement status.

Step 6 
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Reduction For Own EE Annuity - Subtract the amount of the spouse's own railroad 

retirement employee annuity net tier I. If both the employee and spouse started railroad 

work after 1974, deduct the full amount of the spouse's own employee annuity.

Step 7

Work Deduction - When either the employee or spouse has excess earnings (from LPE 

or S/E), and the spouse's tier I is not reduced for social security benefits, subtract onehalf of the portion of the employee tier I subject to work deductions. Apply work 

deductions even if the earnings are expected to cease (DLW-LPE) in the ABD month.

On the MARC, the employee work deduction amount is the difference between PIA 1 

and PIA 17, also referred to as PIA 2.

If the employee annuity is in final payment status, you may secure the employee’s TierISubt-WD-Amt from the RHTier I (3210) Screen 1 of 2 in PREH.

In reduced 60/30 cases, if the spouse is under age 62 on the spouse's ABD, the spouse 

work deduction component should be based on one-half of the EE's ABD PIA 1 after 

age reduction, less the ABD PIA 17 amount after age reduction. However, to simplify 

handling in this type of instance and to ensure an underpayment of the SPAR amount, 

use the PIA-1-AT-ABD-AMT and the PIA-17-AT-ABD-AMT located on screen 

RHHSKP(3270) of PREH. Subtract the PIA 17 amount from the PIA 1 amount before 

age reduction and divide the result by 2 to obtain the spouse work deduction 

component. 

If you are unable to determine the portion of the employee tier I subject to work 

deductions do not include a tier I in the SPAR.

Safety Factor - Subtract $20.00 as a margin for error. Round the net Tier 1 down to the 

dollar.

TIER II

Step 1 

The spouse's basic tier II is 45% of the employee's tier II before age reduction. If the 

employee has not retired, you may use 45% of the Tier II amount on the MARC file. If 

the employee has retired as a 60/30, use 45% of the Tier II amount indicated as T2-

NET-AMT on screen RHTIER2(3215) 1 of 2 on PREH. If the employee has retired as a 

reduced age, use 45% of the Tier II amount indicated as T2-AFT-VDB-RED-AMT on 

screen RHTIER2(3215) 1 of 2 on PREH. Since this amount does not include 

cumulative employee T2 COLAs, the Tier 2 amount for spouses of reduced age 

employees will be slightly understated. NOTE: The Tier II amount is zero for a male 

spouse whose entitlement is based on a minor child. 

Step 2 See Step 6 for the SPAR Tier I. If the spouse is not a dual annuitant, omit this 

step. 
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EE Annuity Restored Amount - Add the amount of the spouse's tier I that was reduced 

for the spouse's own employee annuity, if either the employee or spouse had some 

railroad service before 1975.

Please realize that marking a case for manual review will increase the time lapse to a 

partial payment being made to the spouse, but do not let this deter use of this procedure 

when necessary.

1025.10.2 How SPAR Will Be Handled at Headquarters

Before a SPAR can be paid, the APPLE application data must be accepted by RASI. 

REQUEST shows the date of acceptance under the caption "INTO RASI." RASI may 

process a partial annuity award within a week, but there are many reasons for delays of 

30 days or more:

• RASI has not determined the spouse's ABD;

• The actual ABD is other than the first day of the month or a future date. RASI will 

not process a partial award earlier than the first of the month following the first full 

month of entitlement.

• The employee has not been paid at least a partial rate;

• The case is coded for manual review (this requires an examiner's eligibility 

determination and, if necessary, reentry of the SPAR.);

• RASI puts the spouse into "final mode." REQUEST shows "TRACE" as the pending 

action (Note: a claims examiner may be able to force a partial payment to be made);

• A name or address change is required;

• No employee data has been found in the Research record for use in a spouse-only 

case in RASI.

Usually, the SPAR rate will be paid with no retroactivity. The partial spouse payments 

will show up on REQUEST if paid on RASI.

1025.10.3 Award Notification

The annuitant will receive an RL-20/RL-20e award letter showing the assumed ABD, the 

total amount of the monthly award (no tier breakdown) and a paragraph explaining that 

this is only the partial rate. 

The award letter will be released about 2 days before the Treasury Department releases 

the check.