[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: 5CFR1653.2]

[Page 278-279]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
         CHAPTER VI--FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD
 
PART 1653_COURT ORDERS AND LEGAL PROCESSES AFFECTING THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN 
 
               Subpart A_Retirement Benefits Court Orders
 
Sec.  1653.2  Qualifying retirement benefits court orders.

    (a) To be qualifying, and thus enforceable against the TSP, a 
retirement benefits court order must meet the following requirements:
    (1) The order must expressly relate to the Thrift Savings Plan 
account of a TSP participant. This means that:
    (i) The order must expressly refer to the ``Thrift Savings Plan'' or 
describe the TSP in such a way that it cannot be confused with other 
Federal Government retirement benefits or non-Federal retirement 
benefits;
    (ii) The order must be written in terms appropriate to a defined 
contribution plan rather than a defined benefit plan. For example, it 
should generally refer to the participant's TSP account or TSP account 
balance rather than a benefit formula or the participant's eventual 
benefits; and
    (iii) If the participant has a civilian TSP account and a uniformed 
services TSP account, the order must expressly identify the account to 
which it relates.
    (2) The order must either require the TSP to freeze the 
participant's account to preserve the status quo pending final 
resolution of the parties' rights to the participant's TSP account, or 
to make a payment from the participant's account to a permissible payee.
    (3) If the order requires a payment from the participant's account, 
the award must be for:
    (i) A specific dollar amount;
    (ii) A stated percentage or fraction of the account; or
    (iii) A survivor annuity as provided in 5 U.S.C. 8435(d).
    (iv) The following examples would qualify to require payment from 
the TSP, although ambiguous or conflicting language used elsewhere could 
cause the order to be rejected.

    Example (1). ORDERED: [payee's name, Social Security number (SSN), 
and address] is awarded $------ from the [civilian or uniformed 
services] Thrift Savings Plan account of [participant's name, SSN, and 
address].
    Example (2). ORDERED: [payee's name, SSN, and address] is awarded --
----% of the [civilian and/or uniformed services] Thrift Savings Plan 
account[s] of [participant's name, SSN, and address] as of [date].
    Example (3). ORDERED: [payee's name, SSN, and address] is awarded 
[fraction] of

[[Page 279]]

the [civilian and/or uniformed services] Thrift Savings Plan account[s] 
of [participant's name, SSN, and address] as of [date].
    Note: The following optional language can be used in conjunction 
with any of the above examples. FURTHER ORDERED: Earnings will be paid 
on the amount of the entitlement under this ORDER until payment is made.
    (4) A court order can require a payment only to a spouse, former 
spouse, child or dependent of a participant.
    (b) The following retirement benefits court orders are not 
qualifying and thus are not enforceable against the TSP:
    (1) An order relating to a TSP account that has been closed;
    (2) An order relating to a TSP account that contains only nonvested 
money, unless the money will become vested within 30 days of the date 
the TSP receives the order if the participant were to remain in Federal 
service;
    (3) An order requiring the return to the TSP of money that was 
properly paid pursuant to an earlier court order;
    (4) An order requiring the TSP to make a payment in the future, 
unless the present value of the payee's entitlement can be calculated, 
in which case the TSP will make the payment currently; and
    (5) An order that does not specify the account to which the order 
applies, if the participant has both a civilian TSP account and a 
uniformed services TSP account.

[68 FR 35510, June 13, 2003, as amended at 69 FR 29851, May 26, 2004; 71 
FR 54893, Sept. 20, 2006]