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CourtListener opinion 10505856

Citation: Domestic Relations Order · Date unknown · US

Extracted case name
pending
Extracted reporter citation
Domestic Relations Order
Docket / number
NUMBER Appellant
QDRO relevance 5/5Retirement relevance 5/5Family-law relevance 5/5gold label pending
Research-use warning: This page contains machine-draft public annotations generated from public opinion text. The headnote is not Willie-approved gold-label work product and is not legal advice. Verify the full opinion and current law before relying on it.

Machine-draft headnote

Machine-draft public headnote: CourtListener opinion 10505856 is included in the LexyCorpus QDRO sample set as a public CourtListener opinion with relevance to pension / defined benefit issues. The current annotation is conservative: it identifies source provenance, relevance signals, and evidence quotes for attorney/agent retrieval. It is not a Willie-approved legal headnote yet.

Retrieval annotation

Draft retrieval summary: this opinion has QDRO relevance score 5/5, retirement-division score 5/5, and family-law score 5/5. Use the quoted text and full opinion below before relying on the case.

Category: pension / defined benefit issues

Evidence quotes

domestic relations order

ilings in this appeal, we conclude that the petitioner has not established any basis under section 1201.115 for granting the petition for review. Regarding the appellant's argument that the March 2016 order striking the survivor annuity provision of the 2001 Domestic Relations Order (DRO) merely corrected an inadvertent error or mistake in the original DRO, that argument is without merit. PFR File, Tab 1 at 5-7. Because the appellant retired from the Federal service prior to correcting the DRO, OPM is barred by statute from processing the amended DRO, and the statute contains no provision for amendment due to an inadvertent error or mi

survivor benefits

nd A. Limon, Vice Chairman Henry J. Kerner, Member FINAL ORDER The appellant has filed a petition for review of the initial decision, which affirmed the final decision of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) granting his former spouse a court-ordered survivor annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). On petition for review, the appellant restates 1 A nonprecedential order is one that the Board has determined does not add significantly to the body of MSPB case law. Parties may cite nonprecedential orders, but such orders have no precedential value; the Board and administrative judges are not required to

Source and provenance

Source type
courtlistener_qdro_opinion_full_text
Permissions posture
public
Generated status
machine draft public v0
Review status
gold label pending
Jurisdiction metadata
US
Deterministic extraction
reporter: Domestic Relations Order · docket: NUMBER Appellant
Generated at
May 14, 2026

Related public corpus pages

Deterministic links based on shared title/citation terms and QDRO / retirement / family-law retrieval scores.

Clean opinion text

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD

JOSEPH PICCIANO, DOCKET NUMBER
 Appellant, NY-0831-20-0004-I-1

 v.

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL DATE: August 12, 2024
 MANAGEMENT,
 Agency.

 THIS FINAL ORDER IS NONPRECEDENTIAL 1

 Norman J. Chirco , Esquire, Auburn, New York, for the appellant.

 Tanisha Elliott Evans and Karen Silveira , Washington, D.C., for the
 agency.

 BEFORE

 Cathy A. Harris, Chairman
 Raymond A. Limon, Vice Chairman
 Henry J. Kerner, Member

 FINAL ORDER

 The appellant has filed a petition for review of the initial decision, which
affirmed the final decision of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
granting his former spouse a court-ordered survivor annuity under the Civil
Service Retirement System (CSRS). On petition for review, the appellant restates
1
 A nonprecedential order is one that the Board has determined does not add
significantly to the body of MSPB case law. Parties may cite nonprecedential orders,
but such orders have no precedential value; the Board and administrative judges are not
required to follow or distinguish them in any future decisions. In contrast, a
precedential decision issued as an Opinion and Order has been identified by the Board
as significantly contributing to the Board's case law. See 5 C.F.R. § 1201.117(c).
 2

his argument that the language in the court order granting his former spouse a
survivor annuity was the result of a "clerical error," and that a March 7, 2016
post-retirement modification to the order should be given effect. Petition for
Review (PFR) File, Tab 1 at 5-7. Generally, we grant petitions such as this one
only in the following circumstances: the initial decision contains erroneous
findings of material fact; the initial decision is based on an erroneous
interpretation of statute or regulation or the erroneous application of the law to
the facts of the case; the administrative judge's rulings during either the course of
the appeal or the initial decision were not consistent with required procedures or
involved an abuse of discretion, and the resulting error affected the outcome of
the case; or new and material evidence or legal argument is available that, despite
the petitioner's due diligence, was not available when the record closed. Title 5
of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 1201.115 (5 C.F.R. § 1201.115).
After fully considering the filings in this appeal, we conclude that the petitioner
has not established any basis under section 1201.115 for granting the petition for
review.
 Regarding the appellant's argument that the March 2016 order striking the
survivor annuity provision of the 2001 Domestic Relations Order (DRO) merely
corrected an inadvertent error or mistake in the original DRO, that argument is
without merit. PFR File, Tab 1 at 5-7. Because the appellant retired from the
Federal service prior to correcting the DRO, OPM is barred by statute from
processing the amended DRO, and the statute contains no provision for
amendment due to an inadvertent error or mistake. See 5 U.S.C. § 8341(h)(4)
(noting that a modification of any court-approved property settlement agreement
dealing with a survivor annuity shall not be effective if the modification is made
after the employee dies or retires); cf. James v. Office of Personnel Management,
372 F.3d 1365, 1369-70 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (declining to invalidate an election of a
survivor annuity for a new spouse based on mutual mistake, in part to avoid the
uncertainty that could result from allowing introduction of parol evidence
 3

contradicting the actual election). Additionally, as the administrative judge
observed, OPM advised the appellant as early as 2003 that it intended to honor
his former spouse's court-ordered survivor annuity award, providing him with
ample time to seek an order correcting this provision prior to his 2009 retirement.
See Initial Appeal File (IAF), Tab 18, Initial Decision at 3; IAF, Tab 11 at 16.
Although we are sympathetic to the appellant's claim that the award was made in
error, equitable considerations cannot estop OPM from providing benefits that are
authorized by statute. See Office of Personnel Management v. Richmond,
496 U.S. 414, 416, 419 (1990). Therefore, we DENY the petition for review and
AFFIRM the initial decision, which is now the Board's final decision. 5 C.F.R.
§ 1201.113(b).

 NOTICE OF APPEAL RIGHTS 2
 You may obtain review of this final decision. 5 U.S.C. § 7703(a)(1). By
statute, the nature of your claims determines the time limit for seeking such
review and the appropriate forum with which to file. 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b).
Although we offer the following summary of available appeal rights, the Merit
Systems Protection Board does not provide legal advice on which option is most
appropriate for your situation and the rights described below do not represent a
statement of how courts will rule regarding which cases fall within their
jurisdiction. If you wish to seek review of this final decision, you should
immediately review the law applicable to your claims and carefully follow all
filing time limits and requirements. Failure to file within the applicable time
limit may result in the dismissal of your case by your chosen forum.
 Please read carefully each of the three main possible choices of review
below to decide which one applies to your particular case. If you have questions

2
 Since the issuance of the initial decision in this matter, the Board may have updated
the notice of review rights included in final decisions. As indicated in the notice, the
Board cannot advise which option is most appropriate in any matter.
 4

about whether a particular forum is the appropriate one to review your case, you
should contact that forum for more information.

 (1) Judicial review in general . As a general rule, an appellant seeking
judicial review of a final Board order must file a petition for review with the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which must be received by the court
within 60 calendar days of the date of issuance of this decision. 5 U.S.C.
§ 7703(b)(1)(A).
 If you submit a petition for review to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit, you must submit your petition to the court at the
following address:
 U.S. Court of Appeals
 for the Federal Circuit
 717 Madison Place, N.W.
 Washington, D.C. 20439

 Additional information about the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit is available at the court's website, www.cafc.uscourts.gov. Of particular
relevance is the court's "Guide for Pro Se Petitioners and Appellants," which is
contained within the court's Rules of Practice, and Forms 5, 6, 10, and 11.
 If you are interested in securing pro bono representation for an appeal to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, you may visit our website at
http://www.mspb.gov/probono for information regarding pro bono representation
for Merit Systems Protection Board appellants before the Federal Circuit. The
Board neither endorses the services provided by any attorney nor warrants that
any attorney will accept representation in a given case.

 (2) Judicial or EEOC review of cases involving a claim of
discrimination . This option applies to you only if you have claimed that you
were affected by an action that is appealable to the Board and that such action
was based, in whole or in part, on unlawful discrimination. If so, you may obtain
 5

judicial review of this decision—including a disposition of your discrimination
claims —by filing a civil action with an appropriate U.S. district court ( not the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), within 30 calendar days after you
receive this decision. 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(2); see Perry v. Merit Systems
Protection Board, 582 U.S. 420 (2017). If you have a representative in this case,
and your representative receives this decision before you do, then you must file
with the district court no later than 30 calendar days after your representative
receives this decision. If the action involves a claim of discrimination based on
race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or a disabling condition, you may be
entitled to representation by a court-appointed lawyer and to waiver of any
requirement of prepayment of fees, costs, or other security. See 42 U.S.C.
§ 2000e-5(f) and 29 U.S.C. § 794a.
 Contact information for U.S. district courts can be found at their respective
websites, which can be accessed through the link below:
 http://www.uscourts.gov/Court_Locator/CourtWebsites.aspx .
 Alternatively, you may request review by the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) of your discrimination claims only, excluding
all other issues . 5 U.S.C. § 7702(b)(1). You must file any such request with the
EEOC's Office of Federal Operations within 30 calendar days after you receive
this decision. 5 U.S.C. § 7702(b)(1). If you have a representative in this case,
and your representative receives this decision before you do, then you must file
with the EEOC no later than 30 calendar days after your representative receives
this decision.
 If you submit a request for review to the EEOC by regular U.S. mail, the
address of the EEOC is:
 Office of Federal Operations
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
 P.O. Box 77960
 Washington, D.C. 20013
 6

 If you submit a request for review to the EEOC via commercial delivery or
by a method requiring a signature, it must be addressed to:
 Office of Federal Operations
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
 131 M Street, N.E.
 Suite 5SW12G
 Washington, D.C. 20507

 (3) Judicial review pursuant to the Whistleblower Protection
Enhancement Act of 2012 . This option applies to you only if you have raised
claims of reprisal for whistleblowing disclosures under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8) or
other protected activities listed in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D).
If so, and your judicial petition for review "raises no challenge to the Board's
disposition of allegations of a prohibited personnel practice described in section
2302(b) other than practices described in section 2302(b)(8), or 2302(b)(9)(A)(i),
(B), (C), or (D)," then you may file a petition for judicial review either with the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or any court of appeals of
competent jurisdiction. 3 The court of appeals must receive your petition for
review within 60 days of the date of issuance of this decision. 5 U.S.C.
§ 7703(b)(1)(B).
 If you submit a petition for judicial review to the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit, you must submit your petition to the court at the
following address:
 U.S. Court of Appeals
 for the Federal Circuit
 717 Madison Place, N.W.
 Washington, D.C. 20439
3
 The original statutory provision that provided for judicial review of certain
whistleblower claims by any court of appeals of competent jurisdiction expired on
December 27, 2017. The All Circuit Review Act, signed into law by the President on
July 7, 2018, permanently allows appellants to file petitions for judicial review of
MSPB decisions in certain whistleblower reprisal cases with the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit or any other circuit court of appeals of competent jurisdiction.
The All Circuit Review Act is retroactive to November 26, 2017. Pub. L. No. 115-195,
132 Stat. 1510.
 7

 Additional information about the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit is available at the court's website, www.cafc.uscourts.gov. Of particular
relevance is the court's "Guide for Pro Se Petitioners and Appellants," which is
contained within the court's Rules of Practice, and Forms 5, 6, 10, and 11.
 If you are interested in securing pro bono representation for an appeal to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, you may visit our website at
http://www.mspb.gov/probono for information regarding pro bono representation
for Merit Systems Protection Board appellants before the Federal Circuit. The
Board neither endorses the services provided by any attorney nor warrants that
any attorney will accept representation in a given case.
 Contact information for the courts of appeals can be found at their
respective websites, which can be accessed through the link below:
 http://www.uscourts.gov/Court_Locator/CourtWebsites.aspx .

FOR THE BOARD: ______________________________
 Gina K. Grippando
 Clerk of the Board
Washington, D.C.