What type of division order is required for Federal plans?
Since Federal plans; the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), are subject to the Code of Federal Regulations and not ERISA or the Internal Revenue Code or the Retirement Equity Act of 1984, one cannot submit a QDRO to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for division of Federal Plans. The OPM will surely reject it. The OPM does recognize a form of division order known as a Court Order Acceptable for Processing (COAP). The COAP can divide retirement benefits and award survivor benefits, the OPM has no approval process in place, so properly crafting the COAP to comply with the OPM’s requirements is essential.
