(a) General. The full amount of the spouse overall minimum benefit is not payable for any month a spouse, who is included in the overall minimum because he or she has a child in his or her care, is under retirement age and is no longer caring for an eligible child. However, if the spouse is at least 62 years old, a reduced spouse annuity or a reduced overall minimum benefit is payable if the spouse has stated that he or she will accept a reduced benefit.

(b) Report required. When the overall minimum, which includes a benefit for a spouse who has the employee's child in his or her care, is payable, both the employee and spouse are responsible for reporting when the child leaves the spouse's care. The report is due before the benefits are paid for the second month after the first month in which the child is no longer in the spouse's care.

(c) Penalty for failure to report. If the employee or spouse does not report the fact that a spouse included in the overall minimum no longer has an eligible child in his or her care within the time limit shown in paragraph (b) of this section, a penalty is deducted from the overall minimum amount, unless there is a good reason for the person's failure to report. The penalty deduction for the first failure to make a timely report equals the amount of the overall minimum increase for the first month in which a report should have been made. The deduction for the second failure to make a timely report is twice the amount of the overall minimum increase for the first month in which a report should have been made. The deduction for the third and later failures to make a timely report is three times the amount of the overall minimum increase for the first month in which a report should have been made or, if less, the overall minimum increase times the number of months for which a timely report was not made.