[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR1604.9]

[Page 197]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
         CHAPTER VI--FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD
 
PART 1604_UNIFORMED SERVICES ACCOUNTS--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  1604.9  Court orders and legal processes.

    A TSP account can be divided in an action for divorce, annulment, or 
legal separation, and is subject to legal process relating to child 
support, alimony, or child abuse. The TSP will make a payment from a 
service member's account under such orders or processes as described at 
5 CFR part 1653, with the following exceptions:
    (a) Separate accounts. To qualify for enforcement against the TSP, a 
court order or legal process must expressly relate to the TSP. 
Therefore, if the TSP maintains a service member account and a civilian 
account for an individual, a qualifying court order or legal process 
must expressly state from which account payment is to be made.
    (b) Combat zone contributions. If a service member account contains 
combat zone contributions, the payment will be made pro rata from all 
sources, unless the court order or legal process directs otherwise.
    (c) Trustee-to-trustee transfers. The current or former spouse of a 
TSP participant can request the TSP to transfer a court-ordered payment 
to a traditional IRA or eligible employer plan. If the payee requests 
the TSP to transfer all or a portion of the court-ordered payment to an 
IRA or plan, the share of the payment attributable to combat zone 
contributions (if any) can be transferred only if the IRA or plan 
accepts such funds.
    (d) Transfer to a TSP account. If the TSP maintains an account for a 
court order payee who is the current or former spouse of the 
participant, the payee can request the TSP to transfer the court-ordered 
payment to the payee's TSP account; the pro rata share attributable to 
combat zone contributions (if any) cannot be transferred.

[66 FR 50713, Oct. 4, 2001, as amended at 70 FR 32209, June 1, 2005]