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 For Publication 

 November 2023

Legal Partition and Railroad Retirement Employee Annuities 

Like private sector pension plans, select components of a railroad retirement employee

annuity may be considered as marital property subject to legal partition in a state court action for 

divorce, annulment, or legal separation, if certain conditions are met. 

The following questions and answers describe those conditions and how legal partition is 

established in compliance with the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) and the regulations of the 

Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). 

1. What is legal partition, as it relates to the RRB, and how does it differ from 

garnishment?

Under a legal partition order, select components of a railroad retirement employee annuity are

characterized as marital property and divided, with a portion of those annuity components being 

paid on a regular, monthly basis directly to a former spouse, in court proceedings related to 

divorce or annulment, or spouse, in cases of legal separation. Railroad retirement spouse, 

divorced spouse, and survivor annuities are not subject to legal partition, nor are the sickness and 

unemployment benefits paid under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA).

In contrast, under an order of garnishment, certain percentages of a railroad retirement 

employee, spouse, or survivor annuity may be subject to legal process (garnishment), up to a 

maximum percentage amount, solely to enforce an obligation for child support and/or alimony 

payments. Sickness and unemployment benefits paid under the RUIA may also be subject to 

garnishment for this purpose. 

2. Is the RRB obligated to comply with a valid legal partition order? 

Yes. The RRA requires that the RRB comply with the legal partition of the non-tier I

components of a railroad retirement employee annuity. (Railroad retirement employee annuities 

are comprised of two tiers and, for annuitants who meet eligibility requirements that include 

having at least one month of compensated railroad service prior to October 1981, may include a 

supplemental annuity. A railroad retirement annuitant’s tier II and supplemental annuity may be 

eligible for partition as detailed in Question 6.) 

3. What criteria must a partition request meet to be considered a valid legal partition 

order by the RRB? 

Divorce procedures vary by state, but the RRB will accept a court order of competent 

jurisdiction, such as a divorce or separation judgment, along with any incorporated court orders 

Railroad Retirement Information

844 North Rush Street Chicago, Illinois 60611-1275

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board 

RRB.gov

877-772-5772 general 

information

Public Affairs

312-751-4777 

 
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or property settlements. No matter what court document is used to order partition, it must meet 

the RRB’s criteria for validity. The RRB will honor a partition order which meets all of the 

criteria below: 

• is a recently certified copy of the court order (divorce decree, property settlement, etc.) 

filed with the state court; 

• clearly identifies the employee and former spouse or spouse; 

• provides that the former spouse or spouse is awarded partition payments from the railroad 

retirement annuity components payable to the railroad employee; 

• specifies an amount, or a formula to compute an amount, from the divisible railroad 

retirement annuity components to be paid to the former spouse or spouse (divisible benefits are

interpreted by the RRB as the tier II component and, if applicable, the supplemental annuity); 

and

• obligates the RRB, rather than the employee, to make partition payments directly to the 

former spouse or spouse. 

4. What must a former spouse or spouse do to receive partition payments from the 

RRB? 

To receive payment of a partition award, a former spouse or spouse must forward a recently 

certified copy of the appropriate court order(s) to the RRB’s Office of General Counsel (OGC). 

The certified copy or copies can be emailed to LAW@rrb.gov, faxed to (312) 751-7102, or 

mailed to the following address: 

Office of General Counsel

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board

844 North Rush Street 

Chicago, IL 60611-1275 

The accompanying correspondence must identify the employee by name and social security 

number and should include the current mailing addresses of the employee and former spouse or 

spouse and/or their legal counsel. 

Upon receipt of the information and after confirmation of its compliance with all legal 

requirements, the OGC will send an Agreement of Spouse or Former Spouse form to the former 

spouse or spouse to complete. She or he must enroll for direct deposit, unless a waiver is granted, 

and, if applicable, inform her or his local RRB field office of a change in mailing address to 

ensure notification of entitlement to partition payments. The change of address notification 

should include the railroad employee's social security number. 

It is important to be aware that partition payments will not be disbursed to the former spouse 

or spouse until all required supporting documentation has been furnished to and deemed 

acceptable by the OGC. If the supplied information does not comply with agency regulations, the 

OGC will notify the former spouse or spouse of its deficiencies and explain how to remedy them. 
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5. Does the length of a former spouse’s or spouse’s marriage to a railroad employee 

affect entitlement to partition payments? 

No. Unlike entitlement to a railroad retirement divorced spouse annuity which, among other 

criteria, requires that the length of the marriage between the railroad employee and divorced 

spouse be at least 10 years, the length of the former spouse’s or spouse’s marriage to the railroad 

employee is irrelevant as to whether a railroad employee's annuity components are subject to 

partition. 

6. Which railroad retirement employee annuity components can be partitioned? 

Only select components of a railroad retirement employee age and service or disability 

annuity can be partitioned. (Railroad retirement disability annuities may be exempt from 

partition if expressly prohibited by the applicable court order. However, in such cases, if the 

disability annuitant attains full retirement age, his or her annuity converts to an age and service 

annuity and partition is applied at that time.) 

Under the RRA, the tier I component of a railroad retirement employee annuity is not subject 

to partition. Consequently, the RRB will disregard any part of a court order that directs payment 

of a portion of a railroad employee annuitant's tier I to a former spouse or spouse. (Tier I is not 

exempt from an order of garnishment.) 

However, the tier II component of a railroad retirement employee annuity and a railroad 

retirement supplemental annuity may be subject to partition with a portion of both benefits being 

paid to the former spouse or spouse - unless partition is restricted by the court order to either the 

tier II or the supplemental annuity. 

7. How much of a railroad retirement employee annuitant’s tier II component and/or 

supplemental annuity can be paid to a former spouse or spouse? 

The court order will determine what portion of the tier II component and/or supplemental 

annuity will be paid to the former spouse or spouse as a monthly partition payment. The amount 

may be a fixed dollar amount or computed as a ratio, percentage, or fraction of the annuity 

components selected for partition. No matter how the amount is determined, it may not be less 

than $1, and must conform to the following conditions: 

• If a dollar amount is greater than the total amount of the employee annuity components 

that are eligible for partition, the lesser amount will be paid. Any increase in the components 

awarded to the former spouse or spouse will be paid to that individual until the amount ordered 

by the court is reached. If the dollar amount is less than the total amount of the employee annuity 

components that are eligible for partition, the dollar amount will be paid. 

• If the partition amount is determined as a ratio of the length of the marriage to the length 

of railroad service, the periods will be determined in months, not years. If the court overstated

the number of railroad service months, the actual number will be used. If the court understated

the number of railroad service months, the figure stated by the court will be used. 
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Neither the employee nor the former spouse or spouse can appeal the amount of the partition 

with the RRB. Any dispute about the partition amount must be resolved by the state court that 

issued the partition award. 

8. How long can legal partition be applied to a railroad retirement employee annuity? 

The duration of legal partition is dictated by the applicable court order that was submitted to 

the OGC. The RRB may begin withholding partition payments from the employee on the 

earliest of the following: the employee’s railroad retirement annuity beginning date; a date 

specified in the court order; or the first month both the employee or former spouse or spouse 

attain (or would have attained) age 62. It is important to note that withholding of partition 

payments cannot begin before the month in which the OGC receives a valid court order. In 

addition, disbursement of the withheld partition payments to the former spouse or spouse cannot 

occur until she or he submits all required supporting documentation to the OGC as explained in 

Question 4. 

The RRB will stop partition payments on the last day of the month prior to the month in 

which the former spouse or spouse dies. (The RRA allows for the continuation of partition 

payments after the railroad employee’s death unless otherwise noted in the applicable court 

order.) Partition payments may also end if the court order establishing partition is rescinded, or 

an event that is specified in the court order (or applicable state law) as terminating the partition 

occurs. 

9. Are there restrictions to partition payments made to a former spouse or spouse? 

Yes. A partition payment is not payable for any month for which payment of a railroad 

employee's annuity is suspended due to work, earnings, or to recover an overpayment. However, 

partition payments can continue after an employee’s death, unless the applicable court order

states otherwise. 

10. Does the former spouse’s remarriage stop payment of the partition amount?

No. Remarriage does not stop payment of the partition amount unless the court order that 

granted the partition states otherwise. 

11. What happens to a partitioned annuity upon the death of the railroad employee or 

former spouse or spouse? 

The RRA allows for the continued payment of a partition award after a railroad retirement 

employee annuitant’s death. The RRA also permits payment of a partition award when a railroad 

employee, whether alive or deceased, is not entitled to a railroad retirement annuity. However, 

these partition payments may not begin before the month in which the following conditions are 

met: the employee has completed 10 years of railroad service (or 5 years of railroad service after 

1995); the former spouse is age 62; and the employee is also 62, or if deceased, would have been 

62. 
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Payment of a partition award ends when the former spouse or spouse dies - unless the 

applicable court order provides for an earlier termination date. 

If a former spouse or spouse dies before the railroad employee, payment of the partition 

amount that she or he was receiving, or could receive under the partition order, reverts to the 

railroad employee as his or her property. It does not become the property of the former spouse’s

or spouse’s estate. 

12. Are there differences between a divorced spouse annuity and a partition award?

Yes. The eligibility requirements for a railroad retirement divorced spouse annuity are 

dictated solely by the RRA. A state court cannot mandate or prohibit eligibility to a divorced 

spouse annuity. Also, a divorced spouse annuity is limited to the tier I component, and may be 

payable even if a railroad employee’s annuity is not payable due to work or earnings. In addition, 

the payment of a divorced spouse annuity does not reduce the amount of a railroad employee’s 

retirement annuity.

In contrast, entitlement to a partition award is determined by a state court, with a railroad 

retirement employee annuitant’s non-tier I components (the tier II component and/or, if 

applicable, a railroad retirement supplemental annuity) subject to partition, as described in 

Question 6. A partition award is not payable for any month in which a railroad retirement 

employee annuity is suspended due to work, earnings, or to recover an overpayment. In addition, 

payment of a partition award does reduce the amount of a railroad retirement employee annuity. 

13. Where can someone get more information about how legal partition affects 

railroad retirement employee annuities? 

General information about how legal partition affects railroad retirement employee annuities 

is available by calling an RRB field office toll-free at 1-877-772-5772. Agency field offices also 

offer in-person service. While persons seeking in-office assistance are encouraged to schedule an 

appointment by calling the RRB’s toll-free number, individuals without appointments will not be 

refused service. Field office addresses can be found by clicking on the Field Office Locator tab 

at RRB.gov or by calling 1-877-772-5772. RRB field offices are generally open Monday 

through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., except for Federal holidays. 

In addition, individuals or their legal counsel who need more specific information or 

guidance regarding legal partition of railroad retirement employee annuities, including review of 

a draft of a partition order to confirm its compliance with RRB regulations, can contact the OGC 

as described in Question 4. The RRB publication, “Attorney’s Guide to the Partition of Railroad 

Retirement Annuities” is also available online at RRB.gov under the “Resources” tab by clicking 

on “Legal Information,” and then “Partition of Railroad Retirement Annuities.” 

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