5 C.F.R. Subpart C—Requirements for Court Orders Affecting Employee Annuities
Title 5 - Administrative Personnel
This subpart regulates the requirements that a court order directed at employee annuity must meet to be a court order acceptable for processing. (a) Qualifying Domestic Relations Orders. (1) Any court order labeled as a “qualified domestic relations order” or issued on a form for ERISA qualified domestic relations orders is not a court order acceptable for processing unless the court order expressly states that the provisions of the court order concerning CSRS or FERS benefits are governed by this part. (2) When a court order is required by paragraph (a)(1) of this section to state that the provisions of a court order concerning CSRS or FERS benefits are governed by this part the court order must expressly— (i) Refer to part 838 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, and (ii) State that the provisions of the court order concerning CSRS or FERS benefits are drafted in accordance with the terminology used in this part. (3) Although any language satisfying the requirements of paragraph (a)(2) of this section is sufficient to prevent a court order from being unacceptable under paragraph (a)(1) of this section, OPM recommends the use of the language provided in ¶001 in appendix A to subpart F of this part to state that the provisions of the court order concerning CSRS or FERS benefits are governed by this part. (4) A court order directed at employee annuity that contains the language described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section must also satisfy all other requirements of this subpart to be a court order acceptable for processing. (b) Benefits for the lifetime of the former spouse. Any court order directed at employee annuity that expressly provides that the former spouse's portion of the employee annuity may continue after the death of the employee or retiree, such as a court order providing that the former spouse's portion of the employee annuity will continue for the lifetime of the former spouse, is not a court order acceptable for processing. (a) A court order directed at employee annuity is not a court order acceptable for processing unless it expressly divides the employee annuity as provided in paragraph (b) of this section. (b) To expressly divide employee annuity as required by paragraph (a) of this section the court order must— (1) Identify the retirement system using terms that are sufficient to identify the retirement system as explained in §838.611; and (2) Expressly state that the former spouse is entitled to a portion of the employee annuity using terms that are sufficient to identify the employee annuity as explained in §838.612. (a) A court order directed at employee annuity is not a court order acceptable for processing unless it provides for OPM to pay the former spouse a portion of an employee annuity as provided in paragraph (b) of this section. (b) To provide for OPM to pay the former spouse a portion of an employee annuity as required by paragraph (a) of this section the court order must— (1) Expressly direct OPM to pay the former spouse directly; (2) Direct the retiree to arrange or to execute forms for OPM to pay the former spouse directly; or (3) Be silent concerning who is to pay the portion of the employee annuity awarded to the former spouse. (c) Except when the court order directed at employee annuity contains a provision described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, a court order directed at employee annuity that instructs the retiree to pay a portion of the employee annuity to the former spouse is not a court order acceptable for processing. (d) Although paragraphs (b)(2) and (b)(3) of this section provide acceptable methods for satisfying the requirement that a court order directed at employee annuity provide for OPM to pay the former spouse, OPM strongly recommends that any court order directed at employee annuity expressly direct OPM to pay the former spouse directly. (a) A court order directed at employee annuity is not a court order acceptable for processing unless the court order provides sufficient instructions and information that OPM can compute the amount of the former spouse's monthly benefit using only the express language of the court order, subparts A, B, and F of this part, and information from normal OPM files. (b)(1) To provide sufficient instructions and information for OPM to compute the amount of the former spouse's share of the employee annuity as required by paragraph (a) of this section the court order must state the former spouse's share as— (i) A fixed amount; (ii) A percentage or a fraction of the employee annuity; or (iii) A formula that does not contain any variables whose values are not readily ascertainable from the face of the court order directed at employee annuity or normal OPM files. (2) Normal OPM files include information about— (i) The dates of employment for all periods of creditable civilian and military service; (ii) The rate of basic pay for all periods of creditable civilian service; (iii) The annual rates of basic pay for each grade and step under the General Schedule since 1920; (iv) The amount of premiums for basic and optional life insurance under the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program; (v) The amount of the Government and the employee shares of premiums for any health insurance plan under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program; (vi) The standard Federal income tax withholding tables; (vii) The amount of cost-of-living adjustments under section 8340 or section 8462 of title 5, United States Code, and the amount of the percentage change in the national index on which the adjustment is based; (viii) The amount of pay adjustments to the General Schedule under section 5303 (or section 5305 prior to November 5, 1990) of title 5, United States Code, and the amount of the percentage change in the national index on which the adjustment is based; (ix) The provision of law under which a retiree has retired; and (x) Whether a retiree has elected to provide survivor benefits for a current spouse, former spouse, or a person with an insurable interest. (c)(1) A court order directed at employee annuity is not a court order acceptable for processing if OPM would have to examine a State statute or court decision (on a different case) to understand, establish, or evaluate the formula for computing the former spouse's share of the employee annuity. (2) A court order directed at employee annuity is not a court order acceptable for processing if it awards the former spouse a “community property” fraction, share, or percentage of the employee annuity and does not provide a formula by which OPM can compute the amount of the former spouse's share of the employee annuity from the face of the court order or from normal OPM files. (d) A court order directed at employee annuity is not a court order acceptable for processing if the court order awards a portion of the “present value” of an annuity unless the amount of the “present value” is stated in the court order. (e) A court order directed at employee annuity is not a court order acceptable for processing if the court order directs OPM to determine a rate of employee annuity that would require OPM to determine a salary or average salary, other than a salary or average salary actually used in computing the employee annuity, as of a date prior to the date of the employee's separation and to adjust that salary for use in computing the former spouse share unless the adjustment is by— (1) A fixed amount or fixed annual amounts that are stated in the order; (2) The rate of cost-of-living or salary adjustments as those terms are described in §838.622; (3) The percentage change in pay that the employee actually received excluding changes in grade and/or step; or (4) The percentage change in either of the national indices used to compute cost-of-living or salary adjustments as those terms are described in §838.622. (a) A court order directed at employee annuity that states the former spouse's share of employee annuity as a formula, percentage, or fraction is not a court order acceptable for processing unless OPM can determine the type of annuity on which to apply the formula, percentage, or fraction. (b) The standard types of annuity to which OPM can apply the formula, percentage, or fraction are net annuity, gross annuity, or self-only annuity, which are defined in §838.103. Unless the court order otherwise directs, OPM will apply the formula, percentage, or fraction to gross annuity. Section 838.625 contains information on other methods of describing these types of annuity.
Title 5: Administrative Personnel
PART 838—COURT ORDERS AFFECTING RETIREMENT BENEFITS
Subpart C—Requirements for Court Orders Affecting Employee Annuities
§ 838.301 Purpose and scope.
§ 838.302 Language not acceptable for processing.
§ 838.303 Expressly dividing employee annuity.
§ 838.304 Providing for payment to the former spouse.
§ 838.305 OPM computation of formulas.
§ 838.306 Specifying type of annuity for application of formula, percentage or fraction.
