(a) A participant or beneficiary can appoint an agent to conduct business with the TSP on his or her behalf by using a power of attorney (POA). The agent is called an attorney-in-fact. The TSP record keeper must approve a POA before the agent can conduct business with the TSP; however, the TSP record keeper will accept a document that was signed by the agent before the TSP record keeper approved the POA. The TSP record keeper will approve a POA if it meets the following conditions:

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

(2) The POA must be signed by the participant;

(3) The POA must provide the names and addresses of the participant and the agent;

(4) The POA must meet the state law requirements of the participant's state of domicile as determined by the address on file with the TSP record keeper;

(5) The POA must be a complete document; and

(6) The POA must be submitted to the TSP record keeper for approval.

(b) A general POA gives an agent unlimited authority to conduct business with the TSP, including the authority to sign any TSP-related document. Additional information regarding general powers of attorney can be accessed at https://www.tsp.gov.

(c) A specific power of attorney gives an agent the authority to conduct specific TSP transactions. A specific POA must expressly describe the authority it grants. Additional information regarding specifical powers of attorney, as well as a sample form, can be accessed at https://www.tsp.gov.

[87 FR 31695, May 24, 2022]