The law gives certain rights to your spouse (including your legally separated

spouse) to your Thrift Savings Plan. 

The TSP must take these rights into consideration when you withdraw or borrow

from your account.  The TSP will take action to prosecute any participant

who denies (or attempts to deny) his or her spouse these rights by, for example,

forging the spouse's signature or falsifying the spouse's address.

Borrowing from your TSP account

If you are a married FERS participant, you must obtain your spouse's consent

before you can receive a TSP loan.  (Your spouse's consent does not make

him or her a cosigner of your loan or obligate him or her to repay your

loan.)  If you are a married CSRS participant, the TSP must notify your

spouse before your loan is approved.

Making an in-service withdrawal

If you are a married FERS participant, you must obtain your spouses'

notarized consent to an in-service withdrawal before the withdrawal can be

approved.  Spouses of CSRS participants will be notified of any withdrawal.

Making a withdrawal after you separate

If you are making a partial withdrawal after you separate, FERS participants

must obtain their spouses' notarized consent before the withdrawal can be

approved; spouses of CSRS participants will be notified of the withdrawal. 

For a full withdrawal, spouse's rights apply only if your account balance is

more than $3,500.  In that case, if you are a married FERS participant,

your spouse is entitled to a joint and survivor annuity with 50 percent survivor

benefit, level payments, and no cash refund feature.  If you choose a

withdrawal method other than the prescribed annuity, or if you choose a mixed

withdrawal, your spouse must waive his or her right to that annuity.  If

you are a married CSRS participant and you are making a full withdrawal, the TSP

must notify your spouse before you withdraw your account.

Are there any exceptions to the spouses' rights

requirements? 

Under certain limited circumstances, an exception may be granted to the

spouses' rights requirements.  To apply for an exception, complete style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff">Form TSP-16, Exception to Spousal

Requirements, and submit it with the required documentation to the TSP at

the address on the form.  Form TSP-16 is available from the TSP website at http://www.tsp.gov or

from your agency personnel office.

href="http://www.myfederalretirement.com/public/146.cfm">Click here to view

a chart summarizes the href="http://www.myfederalretirement.com/public/146.cfm">TSP spousal

requirements and exceptions.

Court orders

Your TSP account is subject to certain matrimonial court orders and to the

enforcement of your legal obligations to make alimony and child support payments

or to satisfy judgments against you for child abuse.  Matrimonial court

orders are court decrees of divorce, annulment, or legal separation, or the

terms of court-approved property settlements incident to any court decree of

divorce, annulment, or legal separation.  In order to be considered

qualifying and thus enforceable against the TSP, the order must meet the

requirements stated in Board regulations (5 C.F.R. Part 1653). 

If the TSP receives a document which purports to be a qualifying order or

legal process for the enforcement of back payment of alimony, child support, or

a judgment against you for child abuse, your account will be frozen for loans

and withdrawals.  In order to authorize payment from your account, a

qualifying court order must clearly identify your TSP account and must describe

the award to be made to your spouse, former spouse, or other party in such a way

that the amount can be definitively calculated.  Note:  If you have

two accounts (i.e., as a member of the uniformed services and as a federal

civilian employee), the court order must clearly identify the account to which

the order/award applies.