U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 4069-1. Qualified former wives and husbands

(a) Construction with provisions relating to compatibility between retirement systems; effective dates

Notwithstanding section 4(h) of the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984, section 4067 of this title shall apply with respect to section 8339 (j), section 8341(e), and section 8341 (h) of title 5, and section 4 (except for subsection (b)) of the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984 to the extent that those sections apply to a qualified former wife or husband. For the purposes of this section any reference in the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984 to the effective date of that Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the effective date of this section.

(b) Payments to other persons as provided in court order or spousal agreement

(1) Payments pursuant to this section which would otherwise be made to a participant or former participant based upon his service shall be paid (in whole or in part) by the Secretary of State to another person if and to the extent expressly provided for in the terms of any court order or spousal agreement. Any payment under this paragraph to a person bars recovery by any other person.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall only apply to payments made by the Secretary of State under this subchapter after the date of receipt by the Secretary of State of written notice of such court order or spousal agreement and such additional information and documentation as the Secretary of State may prescribe.

For the purposes of this section, the term “qualified former wife or husband” means a former wife or husband of an individual if—

(1) such individual performed at least 18 months of civilian service creditable under this subchapter; and

(2) the former wife or husband was married to such individual for at least 9 months but not more than 10 years.

(d) Promulgation of regulations

Regulations issued pursuant to section 4067 of this title to implement this section shall be submitted to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. Such regulations shall not take effect until 60 days after the date on which such regulations are submitted to the Congress.

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