MEETING AT SSCI RE FORMER SPOUSE LEGISLATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B01370R001101470010-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 11, 2008
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: January 19, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

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19 January 1984
OLL: 84-0099/1
MEMORANDUM FOR: General Counsel
ATTENTION:
FROM:
Deputy Director, office of'Legislative
Liaison
SUBJECT: `Meeting at SSCI Re Former Spouse
1. Attached herewith, for your information and any
action you deem. appropriate, is .a Memorandum tor the
Record prepared by of this Office.
2. It is clear, of course, that the allegations
and accusations made by the former spouses and about-to-be
former spouse.who"-attended Subject meeting must be read
with some skepticism since they are hardly unbiased
reporters. Nevertheless,.I think it might be. appropriate,
without of course doing a major investigation, to
determine whether there is any validity to the complaints
recorded in the attached so that we can be prepared in the
eventuality that..,there is a follow-up by the SSCI.. You
should know, in this connection, that Ms. Toensing is
about to leave her. job as Chief Counsel of the SSCI.
Consequently, the.likelihood of-follow-up is not
overwhelming.
3. I would appreciate your comments.
cc: D/OP
Distribution:
Original - Addressee.
1 - D/OP
1 - D/OLL
1 DD/OLL
- C/Leg Div/OLL
-. OLL Subject
1 - OLL Chrono
DD/OLL:E11:mlg (19 Jan
w/att.
w/att.
w/att.
w/att.
w/att.
.w/att.
w/o att.
1984)
STAT
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OLL 84-0099
10 January 1984
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
Legislation Division, OLL
STAT
SUBJECT: Meeting at SSCI Re Former Spouse Legislation
1. At the request of Vicki Toensing, Chief Counsel, Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), I met with her and three
former spouses of Agency employees and one current spouse of an
Agency employee regarding Agency' implementation of our former spouse'
annuity legislation in Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and STAY
Disability System (CIARDS). This meeting took place at the SSCI
offices on 5 January 1984. Present were: Vicki Toensing, myself,
The purpose of this meeting was to allow these individuals an oppor-
tunity to express their concerns and the problems they have encoun-
tered in attempting to receive their annuity, or information concern-
ing their rights to an annuity, from the Agency. Attached to this
memorandum is a list of recommendations for the Agency with re and
spouses of Agency employees which was drafted by STAT
STAT
2. The main concern voiced by all present is that there appears
to be a lack of adequate notice being given both former and present
spouses of Agency employees as to their entitlements under the former
spouse annuity legislation. One woman present is a former spouse
who, at no time, has received any notification of her rights to a
portion of her former husband's annuity. Another woman present is
currently married to an Agency employee and has just returned ahead
of her husband from an overseas tour. At no time during this tour
did she ever receive any type of notification of this legislation.
3. Another major concern that was voiced by all is the lack of
awareness among Agency spouses of the existence of the Family and.
Employee Liaison Office. However, even those women present who had
become aware of this office and had called this office for informa-
tion concerning the annuity entitlements found that the personnel of
the office were either unaware of the existence of the former spouse
legislation or totally unprepared to answer any questions regarding
its provisions or to refer the caller to an appropriate office or
individual for further information.
4. According to the reports at this meeting, conflicting in-
formation is being given former spouses~as to the status of the
implementing regulations. One woman was told that the implementing
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regulations are classified and, therefore, unavailable to her.
Another woman was told that the implementing regulations were not
yet completed. In addition, some women have been told that the
Agency would be developing a "fact sheet" which would be available
to current and former spouses to inform them of the benefits granted
under this legislation and the procedures which should be under-
taken to secure these benefits. To date this fact sheet has not
been produced to the extent of their knowledge.
5. Other problems which were mentioned during the course of
this meeting included the difficulty former spouses are having in
getting their medical records from the Agency. Another problem
mentioned was the disadvantage former spouses ..are under when they
have worked for the Agency overseas on a contract basis and later
in a post-divorce situation they are unable to list this work ex-
perience in obtaining employment here in the States.
6. One question raised by Vicki Toensing'concerned the type of
information regarding this legislation which is being given to new
employees. It seems very clear to her that we have a responsibility
to inform all new employees of the benefits conferred under this
legislation.
7. Vicki requested that I return to. the Agency and see if I
could ascertain what is being done by the Agency to inform current
and former spouses and new Agency employees. She also anticipates
that if these are recurrent problems which are being experienced
across the board the SSCI will hold hearings on the implementation
of this legislation during the upcoming Second Session.
8. Also attached to this memorandum are copies of correspondence
which were given to me as examples of the problems former spouses are
experiencing in this area.
Attachments
Distribution:
1 - Leg File - Former Spouses (Permanent)
1 - OLL Chrono
1 -.KAD Signer
1 - D/OLL
-A - DD/OLL
KAD:pap (10 January 1984)
STAT
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RECOM EN11kTIONS TO THE CENTRAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WITH RESPECT TO FORMER SPOUSES OF ENIPLOYEES
I. CIA should take the responsibility to inform by individual letters all of the
divorced dependent spouses of the existence of Title VI and what it can mean to
them. If all of the people who need to know cannot be found, a press release
should be issued to inform them of the existence and contents?of Title VI.
Information to these spouses should include the following:
1. That he/she may be entitled to a share in the pension annuity
and/or survivor annuity.
2. The criteria for entitlement.
3. The steps that must be followed to ensure entitlement--including
any forms that are required and whether such forms must be'notarized.
Dependent spouses should be given this information when employees enter on duty
in the overseas career service, at the time of divorce (if it occurs), and again
upon the employee's retirement.
A fact sheet should be put together, with the assistance of the Offices of General
Counsel and Retirement Affairs, informing of all necessary steps to ensure retirement
and survivor benefits are made available to every one eligible. These fact sheets
should be available in the Family Employee Liaison Office (which currently is
accessible only to persons with CIA connections) and to any attorney or spouse,
current and former, who requests it.
II. The Family Employee Liaison Office should be developed into a strong and
independent office. Both professionals and concerned volunteers and/or a genuinely
powerful and effective ombudsman should be added to the staff. The Office should
provide a communication channel for all Agency spouses, including former spouses.
Assistance should be given. to employees and to all family members.
III. The Office of Retirement Affairs should provide the House and .Senate Committees
with an annual report on the effectiveness of its efforts to implement Title VT,
including the numbers of spouses communicated with and what efforts were made to
inform and to assist CIA employees and their spouses under the Act.
IV. Medical records--including nsvchiatric evaluations and records of dependents,
other evaluations--should be made available to dependents and former dependents
without their having to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain such information.
V. Information concerning-legal responsibilities incurred as the result of a spouse's
employment and/or any papers signed by the dependent in association with a spouse's
employment should be set forth in writing by the Office of General Counsel and should
be made available to any dependent or former spouse who requests such information.
STAT
5 January 1984
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STAT
November 21, 1983
Mr. Bernard Rainto
Select Committee or. Intelligence
H 405, The Capitol
Washington DC 20515
You asked me to document my experience with Agency vis a vis Title VI.
The enclosed letter from is the first correspondence I have STAT
received from the Agency concerning the pension my former husband and I will
share now that he has retired (effective mid-July).
My attorney) sent Co Pies of the final decree of divorce and STAT
the property settlement addenda in Personnel on March 9, STAT'
1953 with the request that we be informed if anything further was required.
We received no response.
I called) l and was told that my papers had arrived and would STAT
be given to the OGC and/or Retirement as was appropriate. I was warned that
there was apt to be a delay of two to three months before we would begin,
receiving the retirement annuity. When my former husband retired in July, he
informed me that ev r hi, had been taken care of and that there would not be
any problems. (See letter to p. 2.) STAT
On August
10, 1983 I
called the Retirement Affairs Branch and spoke with
informed me that the copies of the STAT
divorce decree and Property Settlement were not satisfactory and that I wculd
have to send "certified" copies of these documents. This was done before the
end of August.
assured me that a pro forma letter was to be sent to all STAT
former spouses who might qualify for a share in a pension at the time of the
employees', retirement and that I would receive mine soon. To date, I have
received no such letter.
I called wring the first week of October, and he STAT
reassured me that such a letter would be coming soon but that mine had been
held up in the. OGC where a ruling on the tax status of the wife's share in the
retirement annuity was to be made on an "individual basis." , STAT
wanted a "case by case" ruling. It seems to me that my
tax liability--if it should exist (and that would violate the basic premise
that the wife had earned her share of the retirement)--is not the concern of
the CIA.1
STAT
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I called in the OGC immediately after talking to Mr. STAT
and was left with the impression that she-aargAd with me on this STAT
to the OGC for a ruling on my tax status from the IR .
matter. I have not been informed of the outcome of request STAT
STAT
letter arrived on October 14. My lawyer composed the
requested document which I signed under protest. On November 15,
STAT
him and the first check arrived in the mail on the same day as a letter from
my former husband who wrote that he was ver upset that the Agency a d
to get things so confused. (See correspondence with STAT
from Retirement called my attorney to say that a check was being sent to me
immediately and that he needed my social security number. This was given to
Several issues seem to me to be important.
A. did not lose his pension by remarrying prior to age 60
and, while Title VI does contain such a stipulation with regard to
the wife's share in the pension, my property settlement does not.
The premise of "Title VI" is that the wife helped to earn the pension
and there is now some precedent for saying that annuities are joint
property. I feel that this is an issue which ought to be addressed.
B. The OGC (and presumably Retirement) should produce a fact sheet to
tell us (CIA officers and current as well as former spouses) exactly
what is required and what they want us to provide (certified copy of
divorce and P.S., statement promising to inform them of subsequent
marriage, wife's social security number, etc.). A person is at a
tremendous disadvantage trying to deal with a system that will not
permit anyone to know what the rules are. Even with a good and
careful attorney (and all of the expenses that service implies) to
work with the Agency, the disadvantage remains since the lawyer also
cannot know the rules.
Please note the letter tol from her lawyer Ms.
as an example of the confusion that is the result of this
dearth of information.
Apparently) Iwas also told that there were no
application forms available and that there had only been one request
to make use of the grace period for picking up the survivors' annuity
and that it would show "great charity and kindness" were a retired
husband to share his pension with a former wife.
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
Back in February when she was approving various versions of the
wording of my Property Settlement addenda, was very STAT
concerned that it gave me the full amount of the survivor's
annuity. She was very upset that my husband was giving me more than
the law set. I explained that he had suggested that we do this. She
had seen my husband the week before and had told me before that
meeting that she had to make sure that he knew that, from the
Agency's point of view, he did not have to sign the PS if he did not
want too. She was not content that he understood the ruling on the
survivor annuity until I had given her his phone number and she had
called him to make sure that he knew what he was doing. "Giving away
the store" was the term that she used. I know of no wife who was
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called by the OGC to make sure that she knew or understood anything
that might help or harm her. (I must insert here that
has been most willing to talk with me and with my lawyer. She called
me November 21 to explain why Title VI excludes the non-employee
spouse from the annuity and survivor benefits should she remarry.)
C. No former wife that I know of has received the letter stating that
her husband has retired and that she may be eligible for a share in
the annuity.
D. A former spouse cannot know if she is receiving her fair share. The
actual amount of the total pension is "privledged information." (In
once case I was told recently about, the wife had returned to the
States and needed to know with whom the family had its health insur-
ance. The Agency refused to tell her.) How is a woman to know that
she is receiving the full amount to which she is entitled? Even a
small error could add up to a large sum over the years.
I believe that adequate information on Title VI has not been given even
though it was passed over a year ago. The Agency's refusal to provide guide-
lines to the parties (who really do need to know) cannot possibly be justified
on security grounds.
I know of no effort to contact the already divorced wives so that they
could arrange to pick up the option which might be available to them under the
law--an option which has expired unless your Committee is willing to extend
the coverage. In early October 1983 I was put in touch with a woman who had
worked for the CIA prior to her marriage and been required to give up her
position in order to go overseas with her husband. She wo^ked for the Agency
following her divorce but is now employed outside. She lives in McLean. She
knew absolutely nothing of Title Vi.
On July 26, 1983, I was told by an Agency employee who has no immediate
concern in these matters, that some employees flatly refused to take home a
paper for their wives to sign which would have informed these women of their
rights under the new law. I asked about this in August and he
did not seem to find it surprising. In fact, he suggested that quite a few
had probably signed the forms themselves.
If the people in the Office of General Counsel and the Retirement Affairs
Branch do not intend to put real effort into seeing that this new law is
implemented (and publicized) then women who are not informed will not benefit
from it.
STAT
STAT
I have four suggestions to make:
I. that the Agency be required to send each divorced (divorcing) wife a
letter stating:
1. she may be entitled to a share in the pension annuity and/or
survivor annuity;
2. the criteria for entitlement;`
the steps that must be followed to insure entitlement.
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II. that the Select Committee extend the provision for the already
divorced wives to participate in the survivor annuity for another
year and insist that the Agency inform them individually (Are not all
CIA employees required to inform the organization each time that they
are involved in a legal action? That would provide some record of
these women.) or else that they issue a press release informing
eveyone of the existence and content of Title VI.
III. that a fact sheet including the steps necessary should be made
available both in the Family Employee Liaison Office and to any
attorney who requests it. It will never be possible to enforce the
implementation of Title VI as long as the regulations are
"classified".
IV. that a strong and independent Family Employee Liaison Office (see
enclosed article from the Association of American Foreign Service
Women's newsletter) manned by both professionals and concerned
volunteers and/or a genuinely powerful and effective Ombudsman be
developed to provide a communication channel for all Agency spouses--
former and current.
Thank you very much for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
cc: Ms. Vicky Tensing
Mr. Dan Finn
STAT
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