Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Upon receipt of a notice of judgment
prescribed in subsection (b) of this section from a state or federal district
court, state district or U.S. attorney, or the defendant's employer related to
a qualifying felony described in §
824.009,
Government Code, that was committed by a member or retiree and in which each
and every element of the offense occurred after the effective date of this
rule, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) shall make only the
disbursements described in this section on behalf of the defendant. Disability
retirement benefits payable on behalf of a defendant are not affected by this
section.
(b) A notice of judgment
must include the following:
(1) the name and
social security number of the defendant or other identifying information
sufficient for TRS to correctly identify the defendant as a member or retiree
of TRS;
(2) a statement or
sufficient information for TRS to conclude that the crime was a felony
described in §
824.009(a)
or (a-1), Government Code;
(3) an affirmative statement that each and
every element of the crime occurred after the effective date of this
rule;
(4) a statement that the
defendant was a member or service retiree of TRS when the crime was
committed;
(5) a statement that the
defendant was an employee of a TRS-covered employer at the time the crime was
committed and that the crime related to the defendant's employment;
and
(6) a statement that the victim
of the crime was a student at the time the qualifying felony
occurred.
(c) If the
defendant is a member of TRS but has not retired under service retirement at
the time TRS receives the prescribed notice of judgment required in subsection
(a) of this section, TRS shall terminate the defendant's membership and issue a
refund of the accumulated contributions in the member account, and in the event
the defendant participated in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) the
refund shall include amounts in the defendant's DROP account, subject to the
following:
(1) The defendant or a person
authorized to act on the behalf of the defendant must complete the documents
required by TRS to effectuate the refund;
(2) The refund of the defendant's accumulated
contributions and any DROP balance is subject to the terms of any domestic
relations order (DRO) determined by TRS to be a qualified domestic relations
order (QDRO) that is in effect before September 1, 2017 and is subject to the
terms of any QDRO entered on or after September 1, 2017 except as provided in
paragraph (3) of this subsection;
(3) Upon receipt of a certified copy of a DRO
related to a division of retirement plan benefits entered on or after September
1, 2017 pursuant to §
824.009(i),
Government Code, and a determination by TRS that the DRO is a qualified order
under Chapter 804, Government Code, TRS shall apply the QDRO to the accumulated
contributions in the member account and in any DROP account at the time notice
is received by TRS and issue a refund to the defendant of any accumulated
contribution amounts or DROP account balance not awarded to the alternate payee
in the QDRO. In addition:
(A) If the member
has fewer than five years of service credit at the time the notice of judgment
is received by TRS, TRS shall distribute to the alternate payee the portion of
the accumulated contributions awarded to alternate payee, and TRS shall have no
further obligation for the payment of benefits to the alternate
payee;
(B) If the member has five
or more years of service credit at the time the notice of judgment is received
by TRS, TRS shall maintain the portion of the accumulated contributions and any
portion of a DROP account awarded to the alternate payee under the terms of the
QDRO until the earliest month the defendant would have been eligible for
service retirement benefits, including a benefit reduced for early age, and at
that time shall commence distribution to the alternate payee of the alternate
payee's portion of a standard annuity benefit, reduced for early age if
applicable, based on the defendant's annual compensation and service credit
maintained by TRS at the time of the refund to the defendant under this
subsection. In addition to a portion of the standard annuity, TRS shall also
distribute to the alternate payee in the form of a lump sum any portion of the
balance remaining in a DROP account awarded to the alternate payee under the
QDRO plus applicable interest; and
(C) If the defendant dies before reaching the
earliest age eligible for retirement, TRS shall distribute to the alternate
payee the portion of the accumulated contributions plus applicable interest
awarded to the alternate payee under the QDRO in the form of a lump sum
payment, and TRS shall have no further obligation for payments of benefits to
the alternate payee;
(4)
The alternate payee's interest in the standard annuity benefits payable by TRS
under paragraph (3) of this subsection terminates at the earlier of the death
of the defendant or the alternate payee as required in §
804.101,
Government Code. If there are any unpaid accumulated contributions or amounts
in the defendant's DROP account awarded to the alternate payee under the terms
of the QDRO remaining at the time of the alternate payee's death, the unpaid
accumulated contributions, unpaid amounts in the DROP account, and any excess
unpaid accumulated contributions remaining if monthly annuity payments have
commenced to the alternate payee, are payable to the defendant; and
(5) The refund of accumulated contributions
to an alternate payee under the terms of a QDRO pursuant to this subsection
terminates the interest of the alternate payee in any future benefits payable
by TRS on behalf of the defendant.
(d) If the defendant is a service retiree at
the time TRS receives the prescribed notice of judgment required in subsection
(a) of this section, TRS shall cease distributions to the defendant of any
future service retirement benefits, including any partial lump sum option
(PLSO) payments, and any remaining DROP account balance, effective with the
annuity for the month following the month in which TRS receives notice of
judgment required in this section and shall, in lieu of future service
retirement benefits, issue a refund of the accumulated contributions in the
member account at the time of retirement and any balance remaining in the
defendant's DROP account at the time of the refund, subject to the following:
(1) The refund of accumulated contributions
and payment of any unpaid DROP account balance is subject to the terms of any
DRO determined by TRS to be a qualified order that is in effect on or after
September 1, 2017 that is not entered pursuant to §
824.009(i),
Government Code and the alternate payee shall receive the share of the
accumulated contributions and any remaining DROP account balance awarded by the
QDRO;
(2) The refund of accumulated
contributions and any DROP account balance pursuant to this subsection to an
alternate payee under the terms of a QDRO entered on or after September 1, 2017
but not entered pursuant to §
824.009(i),
Government Code terminates the interest of the alternate payee in any future
benefits payable by TRS on behalf of the defendant;
(3) The defendant shall receive the portion
of a refund of accumulated contributions and any unpaid DROP balance awarded to
the defendant pursuant to a DRO approved by TRS as a QDRO before September 1,
2017; however payments to the alternate payee of the portion of the service
retirement annuity awarded to the alternate payee shall continue under the
terms of the QDRO and the pension plan as set forth in paragraph 4 of this
subsection. The alternate payee of a QDRO approved before September 1, 2017
shall not receive any portion of the refund of the accumulated contributions to
the member required in this subsection;
(4) Upon receipt of a certified copy of a DRO
related to a division of property made pursuant to §
824.009(i),
Government Code, entered on or after September 1, 2017, and a determination by
TRS that the DRO is a qualified order under Chapter 804, Government Code, TRS
shall apply the QDRO to the service retirement annuity amount and shall pay the
alternate payee the portion of each service retirement annuity payment,
including a portion of any PLSO payments remaining, and any remaining DROP
amount ordered in the QDRO. The QDRO award shall also be applied to the amount
of accumulated contributions in the defendant's account at the time of
retirement and any balance remaining in the defendant's DROP account at the
time the notice of judgment is implemented by TRS and TRS shall issue a refund
to the defendant of the amount of accumulated contributions in the member's
account at the time of retirement that is not awarded to the alternate payee in
the QDRO and the portion of any remaining balance in a DROP account after
distributions due to service retirement that were not awarded to the alternate
payee. The alternate payee under a QDRO entered pursuant to §
824.009(i),
Government Code, shall not receive any portion of the refund of the account
balance; and
(5) The alternate
payee's interest in the benefits payable by TRS on behalf of the defendant,
established in a QDRO approved by TRS before September 1, 2017 or entered
pursuant to §
824.009(i),
Government Code, terminates at the earlier of the death of the defendant or the
alternate payee. In the event the defendant elected an optional annuity
retirement plan, the alternate payee shall receive the portion awarded in the
QDRO of the benefit amount payable to the beneficiary of the optional annuity
but benefits shall not be paid to the beneficiary. The alternate payee's
interest in the benefits payable by TRS under an optional annuity retirement
plan terminates at the earlier of the death of the beneficiary or the
expiration period, or the alternate payee as required in §
804.101,
Government Code. If there are any remaining unpaid excess accumulated
contributions or any DROP account balance awarded to the alternate payee under
the terms of the QDRO remaining at the time of the alternate payee's death, the
unpaid excess accumulated contributions and unpaid remaining DROP balance are
payable to the defendant or the defendant's estate.