Upon retiring from the CIA, Hunt neglected to elect survivorship benefits for his wife. An April 1971 request to retroactively amend his election was rebuffed by the agency. In a May 5, 1972 letter to CIA General Counsel Lawrence Houston, Hunt raised the possibility of returning to active duty for a short period of time in exchange for activating the benefits upon his proposed second retirement. Houston advised Hunt in his May 16 response that this "would be in violation of the spirit of the CIA Retirement Act".