[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 5, Volume 3] [Revised as of January 1, 2001] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 5CFR1653.5] [Page 283-284] TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL CHAPTER VI--FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD PART 1653--DOMESTIC RELATIONS ORDERS AFFECTING THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN ACCOUNTS--Table of Contents Subpart A--Retirement Benefits Court Orders Sec. 1653.5 Procedures for payment pursuant to retirement benefits court orders. (a) If a qualifying court order creates an entitlement to a portion of a TSP account under this part, payment will be made after the Board's decision has been issued and the 30-day tax withholding notification period has ended. The taxpayer may receive the payment sooner by waiving the tax notification period. (b) A payment made pursuant to a qualifying court order will be made only to the person(s) specified in the court order. If payment is to be made to the spouse or former spouse of the participant, he or she may request that the TSP transfer all or a portion of his or her payment to an Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) or other eligible retirement plan. Such a request must be made by filing the TSP form ``Spouse Election to Transfer to IRA or Other Eligible Retirement Plan'', which must be received before payment. (c) In no case may a payment made pursuant to a qualifying court order exceed the participant's vested account balance, excluding any outstanding loan amount as of the end of the month preceding the date of payment. If the entitlement calculated pursuant to this subpart exceeds the participant's vested account balance (excluding any outstanding loan amount), then only the vested amount in the account (excluding the outstanding loan balance) will be paid. (d) The entire amount of an entitlement created by a qualifying court order must be disbursed at one time. A series of payments will not be made even if the court order provides for such a method of payment. A payment pursuant to a court order extinguishes all further rights to any payment under that order even if the entire amount of the entitlement could not be [[Page 284]] paid. Any further award must be contained in a separate court order. (e) Payment cannot be made jointly to more than one person. If payment is to be made to more than one person, the order must separately indicate the amount to be paid to each. (f) In order to make a payment pursuant to a retirement benefits court order, the Board's recordkeeper must be provided with the full name, mailing address, and Social Security number of the payee, even if the payment is being mailed to another address. (g) If the payee dies before a payment is made pursuant to a qualifying retirement benefits court order, payment will be made to the estate of the payee, unless otherwise specified by the court order. If the participant dies before payment is made pursuant to a qualifying retirement benefits order entered before the participant's death, the order will be honored as long as it is submitted to the Board before payment of the account, regardless of whether the order was received by the Board before the participant's death. (h) If the parties to a divorce or annulment are remarried, or a legal separation is terminated, a new court order will be required to prevent payment pursuant to a previously submitted qualifying retirement benefits court order. (i) Payment to a person (including the estate of the payee) pursuant to a qualifying retirement benefits court order made in accordance with this subpart bars recovery by any other person pursuant to that order. (j) Payments pursuant to qualifying court orders will be paid pro rata from the TSP investment funds, based on the balance in each fund on the date as of which the payment is made. The Board will not honor provisions of court orders that require payment to be made from specific investment funds. [60 FR 13609, Mar. 13. 1995, as amended at 61 FR 18912, Apr. 29, 1996]