5 U.S.C. § 8435 Protections For Spouses and Former Spouses

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: prefLabel,label,title,shortLabel
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-19 (published on www.congress.gov on 10/06/2023)
• Citation: 5 U.S.C. § 8435

(a)

(1)

(A) A married employee or Member (or former employee or Member) may withdraw all or part of a Thrift Savings Fund account under subsection (b)(2), (3), or (4) of section 8433 of this title or change a withdrawal election only if the employee or Member (or former employee or Member) satisfies the requirements of subparagraph (B). A married employee or Member (or former employee or Member) may make a withdrawal from a Thrift Savings Fund account under subsection (c)(1) of section 8433 of this title only if the employee or Member (or former employee or Member) satisfies the requirements of subparagraph (B).

(B) An employee or Member (or former employee or Member) may make an election or change referred to in subparagraph (A) if the employee or Member and the employee's or Member's spouse (or the former employee or Member and the former employee's or Member's spouse) jointly waive, by written election, any right which the spouse may have to a survivor annuity with respect to such employee or Member (or former employee or Member) under section 8434 of this title or subsection (b).

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an election or change of election by an employee or Member (or former employee or Member) who establishes to the satisfaction of the Executive Director (at the time of the election or change and in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Executive Director)-

(A) that the spouse's whereabouts cannot be determined; or

(B) that, due to exceptional circumstances, requiring the spouse's waiver would otherwise be inappropriate.

(b)

(1) Notwithstanding any election under subsection (b) of section 8434 of this title, the method described in subsection (a)(2)(B) of such section (or, if more than one form of such method is available, the form which the Board determines to be the one which provides for a surviving spouse a survivor annuity most closely approximating the annuity of a surviving spouse under section 8442 of this title) shall be deemed the applicable method under such subsection (b) in the case of an employee, Member, former employee, or former Member who is married on the date on which an annuity contract is purchased to provide for the employee's, Member's, former employee's, or former Member's annuity under this subchapter.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply if-

(A) a joint waiver of such method is made, in writing, by the employee or Member and the spouse; or

(B) the employee or Member waives such method, in writing, after establishing to the satisfaction of the Executive Director that circumstances described under subsection (a)(2)(A) or (B) make the requirement of a joint waiver inappropriate.

(c)

(1) An election or change of election shall not be effective under this subchapter to the extent that the election, change, or transfer conflicts with any court decree, order, or agreement described in paragraph (2).

(2) A court decree, order, or agreement referred to in paragraph (1) is, with respect to an employee or Member (or former employee or Member), a court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation issued in the case of such employee or Member (or former employee or Member) and any former spouse of the employee or Member (or former employee or Member) or any court order or court-approved property settlement agreement incident to such decree if-

(A) the decree, order, or agreement expressly relates to any portion of the balance in the employee's or Member's (or former employee's or Member's) account; and