Rev. Rul. 61-218

Title 28, chapter 17, of the United States Code provides for the `Resignation and Retirement of Judges.' Section 371(a) thereof provides for lifetime payments of 100 percent of his salary to a justice or judge of the United States who resigns or retires after attaining 70 years of age with 10 years of service or after attaining age 65 with 15 years of service. A similar provision is contained in section 373 with respect to judges in Territories and Possessions of the United States. Section 372 provides for lifetime payments of one-half of his salary to a justice or judge who, with less than 10 years of service, is retired for disability. Section 375 provides for the payment of an annuity of $5,000 annually to the widows of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Under the provisions of section 376 of Title 28, Federal judges may elect to provide for the payment of annuities to their widows and surviving dependent children. For this purpose three percent is withheld from salary payments made to a judge both before and after retirement. Such withheld amounts are deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of a fund known as `judicial survivors annuity fund.' A widow's annuity, under section 376, is computed on a scale based upon years of judicial service of her husband. Held , while each of the above provisions constitutes a separate program for the specific beneficiaries named, the programs as a whole constitute one plan for the exclusive benefit of employees or their beneficiaries. See section 401(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Held further , such plan constitutes a qualified plan under section 401(a) of the Code.