{"data":{"id":"us/5-cfr-838.1003","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"5 CFR 838.1003","heading":"Definitions.","body":"In this subpart:\nAssociate Director means the Associate Director for Retirement and Insurance in the OPM or an OPM official authorized to act on his or her behalf.\nCourt order means any judgment or property settlement issued by or approved by any court of any State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands, and any Indian court in connection with, or incident to, the divorce, annulment of marriage, or legal separation of a Federal employee or retiree.\nCSRS means subchapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code.\nEmployee retirement benefits means employees' and Members' annuities and refunds of retirement contributions but does not include survivor annuities or lump-sum payments made pursuant to section 8342 (c) through (f) of title 5, United States Code.\nFormer spouse means (1) in connection with a court order affecting employee retirement benefits, a living person whose marriage to an employee, Member, or retiree has been subject to a divorce, annulment, or legal separation resulting in a court order; or (2) in connection with a court order awarding a former spouse annuity, a living person who was married for at least 9 months to an employee, Member, or retiree who performed at least 18 months of creditable service in a position covered by CSRS and whose marriage to the employee was terminated prior to the death of the employee, Member, or retiree.\nFormer spouse annuity means a former spouse annuity as defined in § 831.603 of this chapter.\nGross annuity means the amount of a self-only annuity less only applicable survivor reduction, but before any other deduction.\nMember means a Member of Congress.\nNet annuity means the amount of annuity payable after deducting from the gross annuity any amounts that are (1) owed by the retiree to the United States, (2) deducted for health benefits premiums pursuant to section 8906 of title 5, United States Code, and §§ 891.401 and 891.402 of this title, (3) deducted for life insurance premiums pursuant to section 8714a(d) of title 5, United States Code, (4) deducted for Medicare premiums, or (5) properly withheld for Federal income tax purposes, if amounts withheld are not greater than they would be if the individual claimed all dependents to which he or she was entitled.\nQualifying court order means a court order that meets the requirements of § 838.1004.\nRetiree means a former employee or Member who is receiving recurring payments under CSRS based on service by the employee or Member. Retiree, as used in the subpart, does not include a current spouse, former spouse, child or person with an insurable interest.\nSelf-only annuity means the recurring payment to a retiree who has elected not to provide a survivor annuity to anyone.","path":["Title 5—Administrative Personnel","CHAPTER I—OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT","SUBCHAPTER B—CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS","PART 838—COURT ORDERS AFFECTING RETIREMENT BENEFITS","Subpart J—Court Orders Affecting Civil Service Retirement Benefits"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-5.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:23:53Z","sha256":"889bfb9ab12d9c6980281610b71eb06c0a6344e5464d5629e39446c4265003a4","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/5-cfr-838.1002","next":"us/5-cfr-838.1004"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}