(a) Whenever this subpart requires the Executive Director to give notice of an action to the spouse of a CSRS participant, an exception to this requirement may be granted if the participant establishes to the satisfaction of the Executive Director that the spouse's whereabouts cannot be determined. A request for such an exception must be submitted to the TSP record keeper in the form and manner prescribed by the TSP record keeper, accompanied by the following:

(1) A court order stating that the spouse's whereabouts cannot be determined;

(2) A police or governmental agency determination, signed by the appropriate department or division head, which states that the spouse's whereabouts cannot be determined; or

(3) Statements by the participant and two other persons, which meet the following requirements:

(i) The participant's statement must give the full name of the spouse, declare the participant's inability to locate the spouse, state the last time the spouse's location was known, explain why the spouse's location is not known currently, and describe the good faith efforts the participant has made to locate the spouse in the 90 days before the request for an exception was received by the TSP record keeper. Examples of attempting to locate the spouse include, but are not limited to, checking with relatives and mutual friends or using telephone directories and directory assistance for the city of the spouse's last known address. Negative statements, such as, “I have not seen nor heard from him,” or “I have not had contact with her,” are not sufficient.

(ii) The statements from two other persons must support the participant's statement that he or she does not know the spouse's whereabouts, and substantiate the participant's description of the efforts he or she made to locate the spouse, including the dates the participant made those efforts.

(iii) All statements must be signed and dated and must include the following certification: “I understand that a false statement or willful misrepresentation is punishable under Federal law (18 U.S.C. 1001) by a fine or imprisonment or both.”.

(b) A TSP withdrawal election will be processed within 90 days of an approved exception so long as the spouse named on the TSP withdrawal request is the spouse for whom the exception has been approved.

(c) The TSP and/or its record keeper may require a participant to provide additional information before granting a waiver. The TSP and/or its record keeper may use any of the information provided to conduct its own search for the spouse.