| (a) A vested member who is currently married may not
designate a primary beneficiary other than the member's spouse or
select a form of payment of a retirement or survivor annuity other
than a joint-and-survivor annuity that pays benefits to the member's
spouse on the death of the member, unless the member's spouse consents
to the designation or selection.
(b) The consent of a spouse required by subsection
(a) of this section must be in writing and acknowledged before a notary
public.
(c) The consent required by subsection (a) of this
section is not required if it is established to the satisfaction of
the director, or the director's designee, that:
(1) there is no spouse;
(2) the spouse cannot be located;
(3) the spouse has been judicially declared incompetent
in which case the consent may be given by the guardian or other ad
litem;
(4) a duly licensed physician has determined that the
spouse is not mentally capable of managing his or her own affairs,
in which case the consent may be given by the member provided the
member would not be disqualified to serve as guardian of the incapacitated
spouse and the director, or the director's designee, is satisfied
that a guardianship of the estate is not necessary; or
(5) the spouse and the member have been married for
less than one year as of the date the annuity first becomes payable.
(d) The consent required by subsection (a) of this
section is also not required with respect to any portion of a member's
retirement benefit that has been awarded to a former spouse(s) under
a qualified domestic relations order(s), but the consent requirement
does apply to the remaining portion of the member's retirement benefit.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term "joint-and-survivor
annuity that pays benefits to the member's spouse on the death of
the member" means a retirement annuity for the life of the member
with a survivor annuity for the life of the spouse which is not less
than 50% of the amount of the annuity which is payable during the
joint lives of the member and the spouse, or, if the member dies before
retirement, a survivor annuity for the life of the spouse which is
not less than the actuarial equivalent of an annuity described by §854.104(c)(1)
of the Act when the member has died before retirement.
(f) A member eligible for retirement must certify his
or her current marital status on any retirement application, or any
other application for benefits on which the system requires the member
to provide marital status information, filed with the system. The
system and employees of the system may rely on any such certification
and shall not be liable to any person for making payment of any benefits
in accordance with such certification, regardless of whether the certification
is later shown to have been false on the date of execution.
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