Divorced federal employees can't get around judges' orders anymore when it comes to naming their beneficiaries under the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) program.
Under recently published rules, divorced feds who participate in FEGLI cannot change who they leave their money to if they are under a court order to designate a specific beneficiary.
According to OPM, the new rule was written because existing laws did not adequately deal with court orders. For example, if a recently divorced employee was ordered by a court to name his ex-wife as a FEGLI beneficiary, he could submit the court order, wait a week, then fill out a new beneficiary designation form replacing the ex-wife with someone else.
Under the new rule, issued Oct. 8, if both an original FEGLI form listing beneficiaries and a court order naming different beneficiaries exist at the time of the participant's death, the persons named in the court order will receive the life insurance benefits. The new rule is required under Public Law 105-205, enacted on July 22, 1998.
If an insured individual wants to designate a different beneficiary from one named on a court order, he or she must either get written consent from the court-ordered beneficiary or have the court order modified.
NEXT STORY: Pay and Benefits Watch: Liability insurance Q&A