(a) Any individual who has been awarded an annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act shall have the right to waive such annuity in whole or in part by filing with the Board a statement to that effect signed by him or her.

(b) Such a waiver shall be effective as of the date specified in the waiver statement, except that if an annuity has been awarded, a waiver shall not be effective before the first day of the month after the month in which the waiver form is received at an office of the Board and shall not be effective as to any annuity payment which has already been made or which cannot be prevented.

(c) For the period during which a waiver is in effect, no payment of the amount of the annuity waived can ever be made to any person. A waiver of an annuity shall not, however, have any effect on the amount of a spouse's annuity otherwise payable or on a lump sum under section 6(c) of the Act otherwise due, nor shall it serve to make an individual eligible for a lump-sum death benefit under section 6(b) of the Act or any insurance benefit under the Social Security Act on the basis of the wages of the same deceased employee.

(d) A waiver once made shall continue in effect until the annuitant requests in writing that it be terminated.