Texas Administrative Code › Title 34 - PUBLIC FINANCE › Part 6 - TEXAS MUNICIPAL RETIREMENT SYSTEM › Chapter 129 - DOMESTIC RELATIONS ORDERS › Section 129.9 - Order Appearing Not To Qualify

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) If,
				upon receipt of a domestic relations order, the domestic relations liaison is
				of the opinion that the order does not comply in all ways with the requirements
				for a qualified domestic relations order under the provisions of this chapter,
				the domestic relations liaison shall notify the parties that the order does not
				qualify as a qualified domestic relations order in the notice sent under §
									129.3
				of this title (relating to Notice Regarding Receipt of Order, such notice being
				hereinafter referred to as "§129.3 Notice"). Unless the participant or the
				alternate payee pursues action in a court of competent jurisdiction within 90
				days of the date of the §129.3 Notice to bring the order into compliance
				with the requirements of this chapter relating to qualified domestic relations
				orders, the system will proceed as if it never had received the non-compliant
				order. The system may require a certified copy of the filed pleading to pursue
				action on the order.
(1) BEFORE RETIREMENT.
				If the order relates to a participant who has not yet begun to receive service
				retirement or disability retirement benefit payments subject to the order when
				the system receives the order, the system may delay action on an application by
				the participant for benefits that would be subject to the order (if the order
				were to be qualified under this chapter), and the domestic relations liaison
				may proceed in accordance with the remaining subsections of this section. If
				the domestic relations liaison has made an initial determination under this
				section that the order does not appear to qualify, the system nonetheless may
				(but shall not be required to) pay to the participant all or any portion of any
				benefits to which the participant appears entitled under the order while
				interpreting the division of benefits in the light most beneficial to the
				alternate payee under the domestic relations order and state law. In
				determining under this paragraph whether or not to process a benefits
				application and begin payments to a participant pending pursuit of a qualified
				domestic relations order, the system may take into consideration the difficulty
				in dividing the benefits between the parties prior to receipt of, or in
				re-dividing the benefits after receipt of, a qualified domestic relations
				order. Any benefits not paid under this paragraph shall be retained by the
				system until they are paid under one of the remaining subsections of this
				section.
(2) AFTER RETIREMENT. If
				the domestic relations order relates to a participant who is receiving service
				retirement or disability retirement benefit payments subject to the order when
				the system receives the order, the domestic relations liaison may proceed in
				accordance with this paragraph and the remaining subsections of this section.
(A) If the order proposes to award the
				alternate payee a percentage of the then-current monthly benefit payable to
				participant (commonly referred to as a "carve-out"), the system shall reduce
				the amount to be paid to the participant to the portion of benefits to which
				the participant appears entitled under the order while interpreting the
				division of benefits in the light most beneficial to the alternate payee under
				the domestic relations order and state law. Any benefits not paid to the
				participant under this subparagraph shall be retained by the system until they
				are paid under one of the remaining subsections of this section.
(B) If the domestic relations order proposes
				to award the alternate payee an interest in the participant's benefits from the
				system other than a carve-out (as described in subparagraph (A) of this
				paragraph), the system is not required to reduce the amount to be paid to the
				participant and retain the amount withheld for the alternate payee until the
				system receives an order that complies with the requirements of this chapter
				for qualified domestic relations orders because of the difficulty in dividing
				the benefits between the parties prior to receipt of, or in re-dividing the
				benefits after receipt of, a qualified domestic relations order. If a domestic
				relations order that falls under this subparagraph is subsequently brought into
				compliance with the requirements of this chapter for qualified domestic
				relations orders, payments to the alternate payee under the qualified domestic
				relations order shall be made prospectively only.