The mission of this site is to aquaint current employees, active duty and reserve component military members, attorneys and other interested parties with the important aspects of Civil Service pay, Civil Service annuities, Military pay and Military retired pay.
We also endeavor to provide some guidance through the often impassible thicket of QDROs (Qualified Domestic Relations Order), COAPs (Court Orders Acceptable for Processing), valuation of pensions for divison in divorce — NPV (Net Present Value) and other financial aspects of the divorce process.
In particular, our focus will be on those who are contemplating or in the process of divorce. Equitable distribution of retired pay and benefits is often one of the most important aspects of a dissolution of marriage and yet it is often one of the least known areas of legal expertise.
Author of all material unless otherwise annotated is David W. Starr , dave@retiredpay.com
DISCLAIMER: This site is authored and maintained by a lay person. All readers are strongly encouraged to seek competent legal advice before making any decisions. The information here is believed correct when posted but is not waranteed in any way and may, in fact, be completely erroneous. Each case is different! Consult a competent legal advisor! YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)
Copyright (c) 1999-2007, David W. Starr, all rights reserved
I am attempting to draft a COAP. I am finding that it is very meticulous. Do you have a form which would assist me?
@Michelle Johnson: Thanks for writing, Michelle. Indeed, the COP process _is_ meticulous in nature. That’s why so many attorneys get it wrong … because they have drafted x-number of QDRO’s for their local courts they think the same procedures and verbiage apply, and there are significant differences in the rules.
The “bible” for COAP’s is here:
http://www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/handbook/C005.pdf
An “Attorney’s Guide to COAP’s” which has model languages for important paragraphs is here:
http://www.willicklawgroup.com/get_file/id=209
OPM used to publish a diskette with sample data, but I can’t find a source for it any more, sorry. Best of luck. This information is furnished by a lay person and is not legal advice. If you are not an attorney, you need one who specializes in CSRS/FERS matters because the money at stake here is way, way more than the fee for a competent attorney, I know this from personal experience.