5 U.S.C. § 8435 — Protections for spouses and former spouses

(a) Waivers for withdrawals and elections.
(1)(A) A married employee^* or Member^* (or former employee/Member) can only withdraw all or part of their account^* under section 8433(b)(2), (3), or (4), or change a withdrawal election, if they meet the requirement in subparagraph (B). The same is true for a withdrawal under section 8433(c)(1).
(B) That requirement is: the employee/Member and their spouse must jointly sign a written waiver giving up any right the spouse might have to a survivor^* annuity under section 8434 or subsection (b) of this section.
(2) This waiver requirement doesn't apply if the Executive Director^* is satisfied, under the Director's own regulations, that either (A) the spouse's whereabouts can't be determined, or (B) unusual circumstances make requiring the waiver unfair.

(b) Default survivor annuity for married annuitants.
(1) If someone is married on the date their annuity contract is purchased, the joint-and-survivor method described in section 8434(a)(2)(B), the version that comes closest to matching the survivor annuity under section 8442, automatically applies, unless overridden.
(2) That default doesn't apply if either (A) the employee/Member and spouse jointly waive it in writing, or (B) the employee/Member alone waives it after satisfying the Executive Director^* that the same "can't be found" or "unfair" circumstances from (a)(2) apply.

(c) Court^* orders and property settlements.
(1) An election, change, or transfer under this subchapter has no effect to the extent it conflicts with a qualifying court decree, order, or agreement described in paragraph (2).
(2) That means a divorce, annulment, or legal-separation decree, or a related court order or property settlement, involving the employee/Member and a former spouse^*, if: (A) it expressly addresses part of the account balance, and (B) the Executive Director received notice of it before the payment was made, or (for an annuity) before the annuity contract was purchased.
(3) The Executive Director must set rules for handling cases where two or more such decrees, orders, or agreements are received.

(d) Survivor annuities for former spouses.
(1) A former spouse of a deceased employee or Member who died after at least 18 months of service^*, or of a deceased former employee/Member who died entitled to an immediate or deferred annuity under the older retirement law, can get a survivor annuity under this subsection if (A) an election under section 8434(a)(2)(E), or (B) a qualifying court decree/order/agreement (as in (c)(2), minus the notice-timing requirement), expressly provides for it.
(2) This only applies to payments the Executive Director makes after receiving written notice of the relevant election, decree, order, or agreement, plus any documentation required.
(3) The total survivor annuity paid to a former spouse can't exceed the amount that would have gone to a current surviving spouse under the default method in (b)(1), minus whatever's already being paid to other former spouses under this subsection.
(4) If more than one former spouse qualifies, each one's share is scaled down as needed to stay within that cap, in the order their elections or court orders were dated.
(5) Sections 8445(c) and (d), rules about proving entitlement, apply here too.
(6) A court order or election isn't effective for a former spouse to the extent it conflicts with an earlier joint waiver that former spouse already signed under (a)(2) or (b)(2).
(7) Paying one qualifying person under this subsection blocks any other person from separately recovering the same money.

(e) Loans and early or hardship withdrawals.
(1)(A) A married employee or Member can only get a loan or withdrawal under section 8433(g) or (h) if their spouse consents in writing. (B) Once given, that consent can't be taken back for that specific loan or withdrawal. (C) This consent requirement doesn't apply if the Executive Director is satisfied that the spouse can't be found, or that requiring consent would be unfair.
(2) A loan or withdrawal application can't be approved if approving it would conflict with a court order as described in subsection (c)(1).

(f) How waivers work. All the waivers and notifications required (or waived) by this section must follow procedures the Executive Director sets.

(g) Small-balance exception. Except for the loan and withdrawal consent rules, none of this section's spouse-notification or consent requirements apply if the person's nonforfeitable account balance^* is $3,500 or less.

(h) These protections are on top of, not instead of, the protections in section 8467.