(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
Cont'd... |