§ 1653.3 Processing retirement benefits court orders. ( a ) The payment of a retirement benefits court order from the TSP is governed solely by FERSA and by the terms of this subpart. The TSP record keeper will honor retirement benefits court orders properly issued and certified by a court (as defined in § 1653.1). However, those courts have no jurisdiction over the TSP and the TSP cannot be made a party to the underlying domestic relations proceedings.
( b ) The TSP record keeper will review a retirement benefits court order to determine whether it is enforceable against the TSP only after the TSP record keeper has received a complete copy of the document. Receipt by an employing agency or any other agency of the Government does not constitute receipt by the TSP record keeper. Retirement benefits court orders should be submitted to the TSP record keeper at the current address as provided at *https://www.tsp.gov .* Receipt by the TSP record keeper is considered receipt by the TSP. To be complete, a court order must be written in English or be accompanied by a certified English translation and contain all pages and attachments; it must also provide (or be accompanied by a document that provides): ( 1 ) The participant's account number or Social Security number (SSN);
( 2 ) The name and last known mailing address of each payee covered by the order; and
( 3 ) The payee's SSN and state of legal residence if he or she is the current or former spouse of the participant.
( c ) As soon as practicable after the TSP record keeper receives a document that purports to be a qualifying retirement benefits court order, whether or not complete, the participant's account will be frozen. After the account is frozen, no withdrawals or loan disbursements (other than a required minimum distribution pursuant to section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(9)) will be allowed until the account is unfrozen. All other account activity will be permitted.
( d ) The following documents do not purport to be qualifying retirement benefits court orders, and accounts of participants to whom such orders relate will not be frozen: ( 1 ) A court order relating to a TSP account that has been closed;
( 2 ) A court order dated before June 6, 1986;
( 3 ) A court order that does not award all or any part of the TSP account to someone other than the participant; and
( 4 ) A court order that does not mention retirement benefits.
( e ) After the participant's account is frozen, the TSP record keeper will review the document further to determine if it is complete; if the document is not complete, it will be rejected, the account will be unfrozen, all parties will be notified, and no further action will be taken with respect to the document.
( f ) The TSP record keeper will review a complete copy of an order to determine whether it is a qualifying retirement benefits court order as described in § 1653.2. The TSP record keeper will mail a decision letter to all parties containing the following information: ( 1 ) A determination regarding whether the court order is qualifying;
( 2 ) A statement of the applicable statutes and regulations;
( 3 ) An explanation of the effect the court order has on the participant's TSP account; and
( 4 ) If the qualifying order requires payment, the letter will provide: ( i ) An explanation of how the payment will be calculated and an estimated amount of payment;
( ii ) The anticipated date of payment;
( iii ) Tax and withholding information to the person responsible for paying Federal income tax on the payment;
( iv ) Information on how to roll over the payment to an eligible employer plan within the meaning of section 402(c) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 402(c)), traditional IRA, or Roth IRA (if the payee is the current or former spouse of the participant); and
( v ) Information on how to receive the payment through an electronic funds transfer (EFT).
( g ) [Reserved]
( h ) An account frozen under this section will be unfrozen as follows: ( 1 ) If the account was frozen in response to an order issued to preserve the status quo pending final resolution of the parties' rights to the participant's TSP account, the account will be unfrozen if the TSP record keeper receives a court order that vacates or supersedes the previous order (unless the order vacating or superseding the order itself qualifies to place a freeze on the account). A court order that purports to require a payment from the TSP supersedes an order issued to preserve the status quo, even if it does not qualify to require a payment from the TSP;
( 2 ) If the account was frozen in response to an order purporting to require a payment from the TSP, the freeze will be lifted: ( i ) Once payment is made, if the court order is qualifying; or
( ii ) Eighteen (18) months after the date of the decision letter if the court order is not qualifying. The 18-month period will be terminated, and the account will be unfrozen, if both parties submit to the TSP record keeper a written request for such a termination.
( i ) The TSP record keeper will hold in abeyance the processing of a court-ordered payment if the TSP record keeper is notified in writing that the underlying court order has been appealed, and that the effect of the filing of the appeal is to stay the enforceability of the order. ( 1 ) In the notification, the TSP record keeper must be provided with proper documentation of the appeal and citations to legal authority, which address the effect of the appeal on the enforceability of the underlying court order. ( i ) If the TSP record keeper receives proper documentation and citations to legal authority which demonstrate that the underlying court order is not enforceable, the TSP record keeper will inform the parties that the payment will not occur until resolution of the appeal, and the account will remain frozen for loans and withdrawals.
( ii ) In the absence of proper documentation and citations to legal authority, the TSP record keeper will presume that the provisions relating to the TSP in the court order remain valid and will proceed with the payment process.
( 2 ) The TSP record keeper must be notified in writing of the disposition of the appeal before the freeze will be removed from the participant's account or a payment will be made. The notification must include a complete copy of an order from the appellate court explaining the effect of the appeal on the participant's account.
( j ) Multiple qualifying court orders relating to the same TSP account and received by the TSP record keeper will be processed as follows: ( 1 ) If the orders make awards to the same payee or payees and do not indicate that the awards are cumulative, the TSP record keeper will only honor the order bearing the latest effective date.
( 2 ) If the orders relate to different former spouses of the participant and award survivor annuities, the TSP record keeper will honor them in the order of their effective dates.
( 3 ) If the orders relate to different payees and award fixed dollar amounts, percentages of an account, or portions of an account calculated by the application of formulae, the orders will be honored: ( i ) In the order of their receipt by the TSP record keeper, if received by the TSP record keeper on different days; or
( ii ) In the order of their effective dates, if received by the TSP record keeper on the same day.
( 4 ) In all other cases, the TSP record keeper will honor multiple qualifying court orders relating to the same TSP account in the order of their receipt by the TSP record keeper.
[87 FR 31688, May 24, 2022]