Qualifying Court Orders: Federal Annuity, TSP, and Survivor Benefits

A qualifying court order for federal retirement benefits is a divorce-related order that meets the exact standards the federal government uses to divide a civil service annuity, a Thrift Savings Plan account, or Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance. A standard divorce decree that simply awards a former spouse “half the pension” will not do the job. The Office of Personnel Management reviews each order against 5 CFR Part 838 for annuities, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board reviews TSP orders under 5 CFR Part 1653, and each agency reads only what is inside the four corners of the document. Get the language wrong and the order is rejected, sending the parties back to state court for an amended version.

What a Qualifying Order Actually Is

OPM calls an acceptable annuity-dividing order a Court Order Acceptable for Processing, or COAP. It must be a judgment, property settlement, or decree issued or approved by a court in any U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, or an Indian court, and it must arise from a divorce, annulment, or legal separation involving a federal employee or retiree.¹

The equivalent for the Thrift Savings Plan is a Retirement Benefits Court Order, or RBCO, submitted directly to the TSP under 5 CFR Part 1653.² A COAP directed at OPM does not touch the TSP balance, and vice versa. Federal life insurance takes yet a third path. Plan on drafting separate provisions, and often separate orders, for each benefit.

Reviewers will not look at the underlying court record, examine a judge’s reasoning, or interpret ambiguity in the former spouse’s favor. If the order says “pension” without identifying CSRS or FERS, or uses a formula OPM cannot calculate from its own files, it gets rejected.³ Model language sits in the appendices to 5 CFR Part 838 for a reason: OPM wants drafters to use it.⁴

Identifying Information That Must Appear

OPM needs enough data to match the order to the right retirement file. At a minimum, include the employee’s full legal name, Social Security number, and date of birth.⁵ Verify these against official records before the judge signs. A transposed digit derails the whole process.

If the employee has already retired, add the OPM retirement claim number, usually a CSA number for CSRS retirees or a CSF number for FERS retirees. That number is OPM’s primary tracking identifier.⁵

The order must name the retirement system as Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). A generic reference to a “federal pension” fails. Employees who aren’t sure which system covers them can check Block 30 of their most recent SF-50: codes “1,” “CS,” or “CSRS” mean CSRS; “K” means FERS.

How the Annuity Share Must Be Written

An award of “half the pension” without more will not survive review. OPM has to know what type of annuity the formula applies to and how to compute the share from the order’s language alone.⁶

Specify whether the former spouse’s share is calculated against the gross annuity, the net annuity, or the self-only annuity. Gross is the full amount before deductions. Net is what remains after subtracting items like health premiums, life insurance premiums, and the cost of a survivor annuity. Self-only is what the retiree would receive if no survivor benefit were being provided. Those figures can differ by a lot. If the order is ambiguous, OPM defaults to gross annuity.⁶

Express the share as a fixed dollar amount, a percentage, or a fraction. A formula works as long as OPM can compute it from the order plus normal file data. For employees who haven’t retired yet, the drafter should consider phased retirement and the composite retirement annuity that follows it. Unless the order expressly excludes those, a general division provision applies to whatever annuity the employee eventually receives.⁷

Protecting the Former Spouse After the Employee’s Death

A court-ordered share of the retiree’s monthly annuity stops the day the retiree dies.⁸ Without a separate survivor annuity provision, the former spouse loses all federal retirement income at that point. This is the single most consequential drafting choice in the whole order.

A former spouse survivor annuity is a distinct, continuing benefit paid after the retiree’s death. The order must expressly award it or expressly direct the employee to elect it, identify the retirement system, and use terms that clearly describe a survivor annuity rather than just a share of the employee’s own annuity.⁹ OPM must be able to determine the amount from the order’s language and its records.¹⁰

If the order awards a survivor annuity but names no amount, OPM pays the maximum allowed under the regulations.¹¹ If the order tells the former spouse to “keep” or “maintain” the survivor annuity in place at the time of divorce, OPM applies the same proportion of the maximum that existed then.

A well-drafted order can also direct OPM to pay the former spouse’s share of the employee annuity to the former spouse’s estate or to the retiree’s children if the former spouse dies first. Without that language, the apportionment simply ends.⁸

Blocking a Refund of Contributions

An employee who leaves federal service before retirement eligibility can request a refund of all their retirement contributions. If the employee takes that lump sum, the account closes and no annuity is ever paid, which wipes out the former spouse’s share. To prevent this, the order must expressly direct OPM not to pay the employee a refund of contributions.¹²

A refund-blocking provision only works if the same order or a prior order also awards the former spouse a survivor annuity or a share of the employee annuity, and paying the refund would defeat that award. A standalone block, with no benefit award behind it, is not enforceable. The model language reads: “The United States Office of Personnel Management is directed not to pay [employee] a refund of employee contributions.”¹³

A Separate Order for the Thrift Savings Plan

The TSP is administered by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, not OPM. Dividing it requires a Retirement Benefits Court Order sent to the TSP directly.² The RBCO must:

Expressly refer to the “Thrift Savings Plan” or describe it clearly enough that it cannot be confused with other retirement benefits. If the participant has both a civilian and a uniformed services TSP account, the order must say which one is being divided.
Use defined contribution language, referencing the “TSP account” or “account balance” rather than a benefit formula. Language written for a pension will be rejected.
State a specific award: a dollar amount, a percentage of the account balance, or a survivor annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8435(d).
Direct a permissible action, either freezing the account or paying a spouse, former spouse, child, or dependent of the participant.¹⁴

When calculating the share, the TSP includes any outstanding loan balance in the account balance unless the order says otherwise.¹⁵ That matters if the participant took a large loan before the divorce.

Some provisions are simply unenforceable against the TSP. An order cannot require payment from a closed account, require the TSP to return money already paid under an earlier order, or dictate that the payment come from a specific fund, contribution source, or balance type such as Roth versus traditional. An order requiring a future payment is unenforceable unless the present value of the award can be calculated and paid now.²

Court Orders Reaching Federal Life Insurance

FEGLI is a third, separate track. Under Public Law 105-205, a court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation can require FEGLI benefits to be paid to a former spouse, and that order overrides any later beneficiary designation the insured files. The insured cannot change the beneficiary without the named person’s written consent or a court modification. The order must be a certified copy and must reach the right office before the insured dies: the employing agency for active employees, OPM for retirees.¹⁶

Submitting the Order and When Payments Start

Once the judge signs, send a certified copy of an annuity order to OPM at:

Office of Personnel Management
Court Ordered Benefits Branch
P.O. Box 17
Washington, DC 20044¹⁷

Use certified mail with return receipt. The effective date of payments depends on when OPM receives the order. Processing generally runs three to five months depending on backlog and complexity.¹⁸

An accepted order takes effect on the first day of the second month after OPM receives it. If OPM receives it March 15, payments accrue starting May 1. OPM does not pay the former spouse for the gap between the divorce and the day the order arrives.¹⁹ That gap can stretch for years if the parties delay, and the lost money is generally gone.

If the employee has not yet retired, OPM cannot begin paying the former spouse until the annuity itself starts accruing. The order sits on file until then.²⁰

Amended orders also work prospectively. OPM will not adjust prior payments unless the amended order expressly directs it to, specifies the total adjustment or the time period, and gives a monthly adjustment amount or formula.²¹ Meeting all three is unusual, which is why getting the original right matters far more than trying to repair it later.

Remarriage Rules That End Survivor Payments

A former spouse survivor annuity under CSRS or FERS terminates automatically if the former spouse remarries before age 55.²²²³ Payments stop on the last day of the month before the remarriage. A remarriage at 55 or older has no effect.

FERS carries one notable exception: if the former spouse was married to the employee for at least 30 years, the remarriage-before-55 rule does not apply and the survivor annuity continues regardless of when the former spouse remarries.²²

A terminated survivor annuity can be restored if the later marriage ends by death, divorce, or annulment. Restoration is not automatic. The former spouse must elect the restored annuity instead of any survivor benefit earned through the later marriage, and any lump-sum payment received when the original annuity terminated must be returned.²⁴

How These Payments Are Taxed

A former spouse who receives a court-ordered share of a CSRS or FERS annuity reports the payments as taxable income. OPM does not calculate the taxable portion of an apportioned annuity, so the 1099-R shows “Unknown” in the taxable amount box. Both parties should check withholding early in the year.²⁵ The payments cannot be claimed as an alimony deduction.

TSP distributions to a former spouse under a court order are treated more favorably. The former spouse may roll all or part of the distribution tax-free into a traditional IRA or another qualified plan, following the same rollover rules that would apply to the employee. If the order directs payment to a child or dependent rather than a spouse, the distribution is taxed to the employee, not the child.²⁶

1
eCFR. 5 CFR 838.103 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits
2
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 1653 – Court Orders and Legal Processes Affecting Thrift Savings Plan Accounts
3
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits
4
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. CSRS and FERS Handbook, Chapter 5 – Court Orders
5
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits – Section 838.221
6
eCFR. 5 CFR 838.306 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits
7
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits – Section 838.306
8
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. When Will My Annuity Benefits to My Former Spouse End?
9
eCFR. 5 CFR 838.804 – Court Orders Must Expressly Award a Former Spouse Survivor Annuity
10
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits – Section 838.805
11
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 Subpart I – Section 838.921
12
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits – Section 838.505
13
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits – Appendix A to Subpart F
14
eCFR. 5 CFR 1653.2 – Qualifying Retirement Benefits Court Orders
15
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 1653 – Court Orders and Legal Processes Affecting Thrift Savings Plan Accounts – Section 1653.4
16
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Benefits Administration Letter 98-205 – Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Court Orders
17
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Can I Check on the Status of My Court-Ordered Benefit?
18
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. OPM Retirement Quick Guide
19
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits – Section 838.231
20
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits – Section 838.211
21
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits – Section 838.225
22
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 8445 – Rights of a Former Spouse
23
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 8341 – Survivor Annuities
24
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 Subpart I – Court Orders Affecting Former Spouse Survivor Annuities
25
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Is My Annuity Taxed If I Pay a Court-Ordered Apportionment to a Former Spouse?
26
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 721 – Tax Guide to U.S. Civil Service Retirement Benefits