In the majority of the divorces I’ve worked on, the TSP balance and the value of the future cash flows from FERS or CSRS are the two largest assets of marital property to be settled. Typically, these two items are given the least attention in a settlement. Typically, I see one-sentence awards, such as “the Former Spouse is awarded one-half of the marital share of the employee’s retirement benefits,” yet I will see a half-page explanation of why one spouse will be assuming a $200 department store credit-card balance!

The best practice is to have the TSP and OPM court orders completed and served immediately after, or concurrent with, the issuance of the final decree of divorce. One of the most-common things I assist clients with is putting the OPM court order together 10+ years after the divorce was finalized. This practice leads to the largest “disconnect” I see in divorce – the lack of detail in the settlement agreement about the FERS and TSP benefits. When I am tasked with drafting the orders 15 years after the fact, do you really think the parties remember what their intent was back then? Of course not, so we have to re-open litigation to get this done, because no one can agree if a survivor annuity was awarded. No one can agree on what level of survivor annuity or who is going to pay for the survivor annuity. The parties can’t agree on what happens if the former spouse dies before the employee and what happens if the employee goes out on a disability annuity. Also, as time passes, you and your former spouse may live in different states. Guess what? This late order has to go to the court of original jurisdiction, so pack your bags. Get this done at the time of your divorce and avoid the headaches later on.

I do not work on divorces that will be adjudicated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  

I no longer work on contemporaneous divorce matters in the Republik of Kalifornia. I still assist those persons in Kalifornia with historical court order needs.

I draft division orders for: TSP, OPM (FERS and CSRS), Foreign Service Pension System (FSPS), CIARDS and CIA-FERS.

If you would like to engage me to assist you with your divorce as it pertains to your federal-retirement benefits, please contact me at divorce@fersguide.com.  A fee of $300 will be due and payable for a consultation, but the $300 fee will be credited against the services that I am later engaged to perform.

My Scope Of Work Includes:

1) Educating my clients and their counsel on federal retirement benefits,

2) Drafting settlement agreement language,

3) Drafting the court order for OPM,

4) Drafting the court order for the TSP,

5) Reviewing OPM determinations regarding the implementation of a court order,

6) Reviewing settlement agreements and COAPs,

7) Under limited circumstances, prepare a FERS Annuity Valuation Report for those persons seeking a “buyout” of the pension award or have a need to offset against a former spouse’s pension. I will not testify in court to support an Annuity Valuation Report. My days of sitting at my desk for three hours waiting to be called by a judge are over, and

8) General consulting in all areas of federal retirement benefits and divorce.

I am very supportive of collaborative and amicable efforts and to the extent possible, I seek to be fully occupied with collaborative matters and will “pass” on litigious cases. I do not travel to testify which limits my ability to assist in litigious cases, however, I can testify telephonically.

I have authored the FERSGUIDE for over 25 years and have an excellent understanding of the federal retirement system, especially as it pertains to Special Category Employees. It’s experience that makes you good at what you do. It’s also experience that you want in your corner when you go through a divorce. I have assisted thousands of federal employees and annuitants with their divorces. In each of those cases, I learned a little bit more and I bring that experience to bear in the next case I work on. I’ve drafted hundreds of OPM COAPs and TSP RBCOs without a single agency rejection. In addition to being a licensed CPA for over 33 years, I’ve also been through divorce as a federal employee; so who better to hire if you are going through divorce?

My fee structure is primarily based upon the use of flat-rate fees.

I typically charge a single flat-rate fee for each order or valuation and that fee includes all needed support from me within reasonable bounds. I want my clients to be able to call me with a question and not worry about running up the bill. It’s more important to deliver that answer to you than to collect a few additional dollars on a piecemeal basis.

FEE SCHEDULE – UPDATED 5/3/2023

$300 Initial Consultation –  fee credited against future services.

$1,500 OPM Court Order Acceptable for Processing (COAP) and TSP Retirement Benefits Court Order (RBCO) – A full-service and flat-rate fee that includes assistance with settlement agreement language, mediation sessions, correspondence with counsel, preparation of estimates, consulting, and preparation of the COAP and RBCO. This is for folks currently going through divorce. This is my most-popular service. It is a flat-rate fee that includes all needed assistance until both the COAP and RBCO have been accepted by the agencies. Fee excludes courtroom testimony. Many attorneys charge this much just to prepare a COAP. 

$750 Historical COAP – includes review of existing decree/settlement, consulting, preparation of the COAP and transmittal to the former spouse and answering any questions posed by the former spouse or his/her counsel. Example: You were divorced ten years ago, are nearing retirement, and no one ever had the COAP drafted. 

$850 Amended COAP – includes review of existing decree/settlement, consulting, preparation of the COAP and transmittal to the former spouse and answering any questions posed by the former spouse or his/her counsel. Example: Either pre- or post-retirement, you realize that the COAP drafted in your case does not comport to the settlement agreement, or you determine that OPM’s is interpreting the COAP differently than you anticipated, and the only way to correct that deficiency is to amend the COAP. 

$375 TSP Retirement Benefits Court Order (RBCO). An additional fee may apply to determine balance as of a stated date, now that the TSP is unable to perform a daily valuation prior to 6/1/2022. Additional fees will apply for determination of the marital share when there are InterFund Transfers during the marital period. 

$300 Review your COAP and estimate the OPM payment to the former spouse. 

$750 FERS Annuity Valuation Report (OPM court order fees are reduced 50% if the buyout/offset is not successful).

$300 Hourly rate for other engagements (special projects, litigation support, expert testimony, affidavits, etc.).

Fees can also be quoted individually based upon the nature of the engagement but are fairly represented above. Fees can be paid by Venmo, PayPal, check or credit card. Fees are billed at the conclusion of the matter and are due 10 days after billing. 

Thanks for visiting,

Dan Jamison, CPA

divorce@fersguide.com