20 CFR § 216.54 - Who is an employee's wife or husband.
---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t20/s216.54"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "20 CFR § 216.54 - Who is an employee's wife or husband."
title_number: 20
title_name: "Employees' Benefits"
section_number: "216.54"
section_name: "Who is an employee's wife or husband."
chapter_name: "RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT"
part_number: "216"
part_name: "ELIGIBILITY FOR AN ANNUITY"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "45 U.S.C. 231f."
regulatory_source: "56 FR 28692, June 24, 1991, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "216"
---
# 216.54 Who is an employee's wife or husband.
An employee's wife or husband is an individual who—
(a) Is married to the employee; and
(b) Has been married to the employee for at least one year immediately before the date the spouse applied for annuity;
(c) Is the natural parent of the employee's child;
(d) Was entitled to an annuity as a widow(er), a parent, or a disabled child under this part in the month before he or she married the employee; or
(e) Could have been entitled to a benefit listed in paragraph (d) of this section, if the spouse had applied and been old enough in the month before he or she married the employee.