Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 495 - Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System › Chapter 16 - Domestic Relations Orders and Other Assignments › Rule 495-16.2 - Domestic Relations Orders

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
This rule shall apply only to marital property orders. All
				support orders shall continue to be administered under rule
				495-16.1(97B).
(1)
Definitions.
"Alternate payee"
means a spouse or former
				spouse, regardless of gender, of a member who is recognized by a domestic
				relations order as having a right to receive all or a portion of the benefits
				payable by IPERS with respect to such member.
"Benefits"
means, for purposes of this rule
				and depending on the context, a refund, monthly allowance (including monthly
				allowance paid as an actuarial equivalent (AE)), or death benefit payable with
				respect to a member covered under IPERS. "Benefits" does not include dividends
				payable under Iowa Code section
				97B.49 or other cost-of-living
				increases unless specifically provided for in a QDRO.
"Domestic relations order"
means any judgment,
				decree, or order which relates to the provision of marital property rights to a
				spouse or former spouse, regardless of gender, of a member and is made pursuant
				to the domestic relations laws of a state.
"Member"
means, for purposes of this rule,
				IPERS members, beneficiaries, and contingent annuitants.
"Qualified domestic relations order"
or
"QDRO"
means a domestic relations order that divides the
				marital property of former spouses and assigns to a former spouse alternate
				payee the right to receive all or a portion of the benefits payable with
				respect to a member under IPERS and meets the requirements of this rule.
"Successor alternate payee"
means a person or
				persons named in a domestic relations order prior to July 1, 2019, to receive
				the amounts payable to the former spouse alternate payee under the QDRO if the
				alternate payee dies before the member. Successor alternate payees must be
				named individuals, not a class of individuals, a trust or an estate.
"Trigger event"
means a distribution or series
				of distributions of benefits made with respect to a member.
(2)
Requirements.
a.
Mandatory provisions.
A
			 domestic relations order is a QDRO if such order:
(1) Clearly specifies the member's name and
			 last-known mailing address, member identification number or social security
			 number, and the names and last-known mailing addresses and social security
			 numbers of alternate payees. This information shall be provided to IPERS on
			 IPERS' Confidential Information form;
(2) Clearly specifies a fixed dollar amount
			 or a percentage, but not both, of the member's benefits to be paid by IPERS to
			 the alternate payee or the manner in which the fixed dollar amount or
			 percentage is to be determined, provided that no such method shall require
			 IPERS to perform present value calculations of the member's accrued
			 benefit;
(3) Clearly specifies the
			 period to which such order applies;
(4) Clearly specifies that the order applies
			 to IPERS;
(5) Clearly specifies
			 that the order is for purposes of making a property division;
(6) Conforms IPERS with IRS reporting
			 requirements for distributions to successor alternate payees. Prior to July 1,
			 2019, the taxable portion and basis will be prorated to each respective
			 recipient if the payee is the alternate payee. If the payee is a successor
			 alternate payee, the taxable portion and basis will be borne by the member,
			 pursuant to IRC Pub. L.
			 99-514, 100 Stat. 2085, enacted October 22, 1986.
			 Effective July 1, 2019, a domestic relations order must conform IPERS with IRS
			 reporting requirements for distributions to alternate payees. The taxable
			 portion and basis will be prorated to each respective recipient; and
(7) Is clearly signed by the judge and filed
			 with the clerk of court. IPERS will consider an order duly signed if it carries
			 an original signature, a stamp bearing the judge's signature, an electronic
			 clerk-of-court stamp and judge's signature page via the electronic data
			 management system (EDMS) or is conformed in accordance with local court
			 rules.