[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR831.632]

[Page 107-109]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
          CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (Continued)
 
PART 831--RETIREMENT--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart F--Survivor Annuities
 
Sec. 831.632  Post-retirement election of fully reduced annuity or partially reduced annuity to provide a former spouse annuity.

    (a)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, 
when the marriage of a retiree who retired on or after May 7, 1985, 
terminates after retirement, he or she may elect in writing a fully 
reduced annuity or a partially reduced annuity to provide a former 
spouse annuity. Such an election must be filed with OPM within 2 years 
after the retiree's marriage to the former spouse terminates.
    (2) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, a 
retiree who retired before May 7, 1985, and whose marriage was 
terminated on or after May 7, 1985, may elect in writing a fully reduced 
annuity or a partially reduced annuity to provide a former spouse 
annuity if the retiree while married to the former spouse had elected, 
prior to May 7, 1985, a reduced annuity to provide a current spouse 
annuity for that spouse. Such an election must be filed with OPM within 
2 years after the retiree's marriage to the former spouse terminates.
    (3) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, a 
retiree who

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retired on or after May 7, 1985, and before February 27, 1986, and whose 
marriage terminated before May 7, 1985, may elect in writing a fully 
reduced annuity or a partially reduced annuity to provide a former 
spouse annuity. Such an election must be made no later than February 27, 
1988.
    (b)(1) Qualifying court orders prevent payment of former spouse 
annuities to the extent necessary to comply with the court order and 
Sec. 831.641.
    (2) A retiree who elects a fully or partially reduced annuity to 
provide a former spouse annuity may not elect to provide a former spouse 
annuity in an amount that either--
    (i) Is smaller than the amount required by a qualifying court order; 
or
    (ii) Would cause the sum of all current and former spouse annuities 
based on a retiree's elections under Secs. 831.611, 831.612, 831.631 and 
this section to exceed 55 percent of the rate of the retiree's self-only 
annuity if the retiree's retirement was based on a separation from a 
position under CSRS on or after October 11, 1962, or 50 percent of the 
rate of the retiree's self-only annuity if the retiree's retirement was 
based on a separation from a position under CSRS before October 11, 
1962.
    (3) An election under this section is void--
    (i) In the case of a married retiree, if the current spouse does not 
consent to the election on a form as described in Sec. 831.614(c) and 
spousal consent is not waived by OPM in accordance with Sec. 831.618; or
    (ii) To the extent that it provides a former spouse annuity for the 
spouse who was married to the retiree at the time of retirement in an 
amount that is inconsistent with any joint designation or waiver made at 
the time of retirement under Sec. 831.611 (a)(1) or (a)(2); or
    (iii) In the case of an election under paragraph (a)(2) of this 
section, to the extent that it provides a former spouse annuity that 
exceeds the proportion of the retiree's annuity to which the former 
spouse would have been entitled as a current spouse annuity as of May 7, 
1985.
    (c) An election under this section is not permitted unless the 
retiree agrees to deposit the amount equal to the difference between the 
amount of annuity actually paid to the retiree and the amount of annuity 
that would have been paid if the reduction elected under paragraph (a) 
of this section had been in effect continuously since the time of 
retirement, plus 6 percent annual interest, computed under Sec. 831.105, 
from the date when each difference occurred.
    (d) Any reduction in an annuity to provide a former spouse annuity 
will terminate on the first day of the month after the former spouse 
remarries before age 55 or dies, or the former spouse's eligibility for 
a former spouse annuity terminates under the terms of a qualifying court 
order, unless--
    (1) The retiree elects, within 2 years after the event causing the 
former spouse to lose eligibility, to continue the reduction to provide 
or increase a former spouse annuity for another former spouse, or to 
provide or increase a current spouse annuity; or
    (2) A qualifying court order requires the retiree to provide another 
former spouse annuity.
    (e)(1) The amount of the reduction to provide one or more former 
spouse annuities or a combination of a current spouse annuity and one or 
more former spouse annuities under this section equals 2\1/2\ percent of 
the first $3600 of the total designated survivor base plus 10 percent of 
the portion of the total designated survivor base which exceeds $3600, 
if--
    (i) The employee's or Member's separation on which the retirement is 
based was on or after October 11, 1962; or
    (ii) The reduction is to provide a former spouse annuity (under 
Sec. 831.632) for a former spouse whom the employee or Member married 
after retirement.
    (2) The amount of the reduction to provide one or more former spouse 
annuities or a combination of a current spouse annuity and one or more 
former spouse annuities under this section for employees or Members 
whose retirement is based on separations before October 11, 1962, equals 
2\1/2\ percent of the

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first $2400 of the total designated survivor base plus 10 percent of the 
portion of the total designated survivor base which exceeds $2400.

[50 FR 20070, May 13, 1985, as amended at 51 FR 31932, Sept. 8, 1986; 52 
FR 3209, Feb. 3, 1987; 55 FR 9100, Mar. 12, 1990; 56 FR 16262, Apr. 22, 
1991; 58 FR 52881, Oct. 13, 1993. Redesignated at 58 FR 52882, Oct. 13, 
1993]

                               Eligibility