A court order can authorize an agent to conduct business with the TSP on behalf of an incapacitated participant or beneficiary. The agent is called a guardian or conservator and the incapacitated person is called a ward. The TSP must approve a court order before an agent can conduct business with the TSP; however, the TSP will accept a document that was signed by the agent before the TSP approved the court order. The TSP will approve a court order appointing an agent if the following conditions are met:

A court of competent jurisdiction (as defined at 5 CFR 1690.1) must have issued the court order;

The court order must give the agent either general or specific powers, as explained in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section;

The agent must satisfy the TSP that he or she meets any precondition specified in the court order, such as a bonding requirement;

The court order must be submitted to the TSP record keeper for approval.

General grant of authority. A general grant of authority gives a guardian or conservator unlimited authority to conduct business with the TSP, including the authority to sign any TSP-related document. By way of example, an order gives a general grant authority by appointing a “guardian of the ward's estate,” by permitting a guardian to “conduct business transactions” for the ward, or by authorizing a guardian to care for the ward's “personal property” or “Federal Government retirement benefits.”

Specific grant of authority. A specific grant of authority gives a guardian or conservator authority to conduct specific TSP transactions. Such an order must expressly describe the authority it grants. By way of example, an order may authorize an agent to “obtain information about the ward's TSP account” or “borrow or withdraw funds from the ward's TSP account.”