Image: Kanghophoto/Shutterstock.com
By: Reg JonesI recently read a question that a reader posted that got me thinking, and I’ve rewritten it to clear away any confusion and get to the point: “I’m a FERS employee who is retiring after 23 years of federal service (including buy-back). I was divorced in 2011 and my ex-wife was awarded 50% of my retirement. How much will she be entitled to?”
Here’s the answer. She will be entitled to the maximum amount provided under law for the former spouse of a FERS annuitant. That’s 50% of the retirement benefit you will be entitled to on the day you retire, as well as the FERS special retirement supplement – if eligible for it – unless a court order excludes that explicitly (MSPB overturned this policy in 2023 but that’s currently under appeal.)
Further, her annuity will be increased by the same annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that are applied to your annuity.
All this assumes that the court order ending your marriage was properly filed with the Office of Personnel Management. To be accepted by OPM, a court order must provide OPM with enough information to compute the amount of that benefit. It can be expressed as a fixed amount, a percentage or a fraction of the annuity. In this case, the 50% cited meets that requirement.
To find out how much your annuity would be, you need to know the FERS formula. If you are under age 62, it’s 1% x your high-3 average salary x all year and full months of service. If you are at least 62 years old and have at least 20 years of service, the first multiplier is increased to 1.1%.
Note that the years of service and high-3 that will be used are as of the date you retire, not as of the date of the divorce. The question above seems to incorrectly assume that the spousal annuity would be based on those factors as of the date of the divorce.
To award the 50% annuity mentioned, your own annuity would be reduced by 50%.
While your annuity will be increased by any annual cost of-living adjustments (COLAs) once you hit age 62, any Special Retirement Supplement payment you are entitled to up to that age will not; it will stay the same as it was on the day you retired. At age 62, the SRS will end and your annuity will be converted to a regular annuity.
Your former spouse’s annuity benefit will continue as long as you live. With rare exception, the payment of that benefit will end with your death or the death of your former spouse. However, OPM will honor a court order that directs it to continue paying your former spouse’s share after your death in payments made to the court, an officer of the court, your former spouse’s estate, or to one or more of your children, if there are any.
As FEDweek contributor Elaine Lumsden also explains:
Generally speaking, OPM will calculate your annuity at the time of your retirement in the same fashion as if you hadn’t been divorced. They will then develop a fraction that they will use to divide your annuity. The order could divide your self-only annuity or your gross annuity – all depends on the wording in the order.
The numerator of the fraction is typically the number of months that you were married and a federal employee. In your case, it appears that the court order ended the marriage at the separation date. The denominator will be your total creditable service, including military time and unused sick leave (unless the order stated otherwise).
Suppose your career length is determined by OPM to be 276 months and your marriage length was 156 months. The fraction is 156/276 = 56.52%. That represents the marital share of the annuity. If she was awarded 50%, then her award is 28.26%. If your annuity is $3,000 per month, she receives $847.80 per month.
Agency RIFs, Reorganizations Starting to Take Shape
Order Formally Launches ‘Schedule Policy/Career,’ Adds Category of Appointees
Top 10 Provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill of Interest to Federal Employees
A Pre-RIF Checklist for Every Federal Employee, From a Federal Employment Attorney
Work Longer or Take the FERS Supplement Now: Which is Better?
See also
Alternative Federal Retirement Options; With Chart
Primer: Early out, buyout, reduction in force (RIF)
Retention Standing, ‘Bump and Retreat’ and More: Report Outlines RIF Process
