§ 838.201 Purpose and scope.

(a) This subpart regulates the procedures that the Office of Personnel Management will follow upon the receipt of claims arising out of State court orders directed at employee annuities under CSRS or FERS. OPM must comply with qualifying court orders, decrees, or court-approved property settlements in connection with divorces, annulments of marriages, or legal separations of employees or retirees that award a portion of an employee annuity to a former spouse. (b) This subpart prescribes— (1) The circumstances that must occur before employee annuities are available to satisfy a court order acceptable for processing; and (2) The procedures that a former spouse must follow when applying for a portion of an employee annuity based on a court order under section 8345(j) or section 8467 of title 5, United States Code. (c)(1) Subpart C of this part contains the rules that a court order must satisfy to be a court order acceptable for processing to affect an employee annuity. (2) Subpart F of this part contains definitions that OPM uses to determine the effect on employee annuity of a court order acceptable for processing.