Question: As the wife of a federal employee for 27 years, I had no idea when I began my divorce nearly two years ago that the federal retirement and health care system would be so complicated and expensive to sort out. Unfortunately, I learned too late that my divorce lawyer had no idea of how to help me get through this and, despite charging me hefty bills, he messed it all up royally. How can wives of federal government employees who get divorced and find lawyers able to deal with the retirement and health care issues?

Answer: Many wives of federal employees – and, for that matter, wives of state employees and military personnel -- are surprised -- or possibly “shocked” is a better word -- to learn that comparatively few lawyers understand the rules governing these rather complicated retirement and health care plans. And to make matters worse, sometimes well-intentioned, but ill-informed, personnel office staffers provide misinformation.

For example, a rather large percentage of attorneys who practice in the divorce area don’t know that the Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO's) does not apply in the division of federal or state retirement plans because those plans are not covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

To make matters worse, there are many different federal retirement programs including, for example, the "Uniformed Services" retirements that include Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corp – active, retired, reserve, and guard. Then there are the Coast Guard, and Public Health Service, not to mention Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS), Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), and Law Enforcement which includes ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms), FBI, Secret Service, US Marshals, Foreign Service, and CIA.

And, unfortunately, there can be wide variances in how the various federal plans look at the same topic. For example, when it comes to dividing the retirement, some plans are flexible, while others are rigid. Some have special jurisdictional requirements, while others do not. Some permit the division of retirement disability, while others do not. Some limit the maximum possible award even with an agreement, while others have no limit. Some terminate the rights of the non-employee spouse upon remarriage, while others do not. Some limit payments unless there is a ten-year overlap of marriage and career, while others do not. Some provide generous post-divorce health benefits for the non-employee spouse, while others are restrictive. Some require reversion of the non-employee spouse’s benefit to the employee if the non-employee spouse dies first, while others permit, but do not require, this.

When lawyers choose to handle these issues, they must first understand the mechanics of the retirement plan in question, and become knowledgeable about the laws and regulations that govern the division of the plan as a marital asset. Then they must be able to communicate with the personnel office. Unfortunately, logic and common sense have little to do with following the rules that are controlled by the legislation, implementing regulations, and making sense of the differing interpretations placed on the legislation by state and federal courts.

Attorneys who represent either the federal employee/retiree or spouse in divorce cases have responsibilities to make sure they understand the rules or they will find themselves in big trouble. In dealing with these complex issues, lawyers can either become proficient or seek out and hire those who do understand the “ins and outs” of these types of cases. Those who think they can bluff and stumble their way through this process will probably find it time-consuming trek that can become a “six figure malpractice trap” because survivor benefits can easily have a value in this range. So, if federal benefits are an issue, make sure to qualify your lawyer before you pay the retainer.