2005 Idaho Code - 59-1320 — APPROVED DOMESTIC RETIREMENT ORDERS -- APPLICATION AND EFFECT

                                  TITLE  59
                          PUBLIC OFFICERS IN GENERAL
                                  CHAPTER 13
                      PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM
    59-1320.  APPROVED DOMESTIC RETIREMENT ORDERS -- APPLICATION AND EFFECT.
(1) The executive director of the public employee retirement system or his
designee upon receipt of a copy of a domestic retirement order, shall
determine whether the order is an approved domestic retirement order and shall
notify the member and the alternate payee of the determination within ninety
(90) days. Orders shall be applied prospectively only from the first day of
the month following the order being determined to be an approved domestic
retirement order. The retirement system shall then pay benefits or establish a
segregated account in accordance with the order. When established, the
segregated account will consist of accumulated contributions identified in the
approved domestic retirement order together with accrued interest on that
amount from the effective date to the date of segregation.
    (2)  If the order is determined not to be an approved domestic retirement
order, or if no determination is issued within ninety (90) days, the member or
the alternate payee named in the order may move the court which issued the
order to amend the order so that it will be approved. The court that issued
the order or which would otherwise have jurisdiction over the matter has
jurisdiction to amend the order so that it will be qualified even though all
other matters incident to the action or proceeding have been fully and finally
adjudicated.
    (3)  The executive director of the retirement system to which a domestic
retirement order is submitted or his designee has exclusive authority to
determine whether a domestic retirement order is an approved domestic
retirement order. If it is determined that a domestic retirement order does
not meet the requirements for an approved domestic retirement order, both the
issuing court and the parties to the order shall be notified so action may be
taken to amend the order.
    (4)  Because an approved domestic retirement order cannot cause the
retirement system to pay any benefit or any amount of benefit greater than
would have been paid had the member's account not been segregated, disputes
related to benefits paid under an approved  domestic retirement order shall be
resolved between the parties to the order by the court issuing that order. The
retirement system shall not be made a party to the action. Any cost, including
attorney's fees, incurred by the retirement system as a result of such actions
shall be distributed by the court among the parties and included in any
amended order issued.
    (5)  Unless the approved domestic retirement order specifies differently,
if the member has a right to a vested benefit as of the effective date of the
order, then both the member and the alternate payee shall have a right to a
vested benefit after the transfer of months of service even if the member or
the alternate payee has less than sixty (60) months of membership service.
    (6)  For benefits under chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, for members
other than retired members, if the domestic retirement order awards to the
alternate payee a portion of the member's accumulated contributions the
alternate payee shall be entitled to all the same benefits and rights an
inactive member has under chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code. The alternate
payee's benefit calculation for a lifetime annuity shall use the member's
average monthly salary and base period as of the effective date of the order
and the months of credited service transferred to the alternate payee's
segregated account. The benefit calculation shall use the alternate payee's
age with the appropriate reduction factors based on the alternate payee's age
at the time of payment of the lifetime annuity.  For the purpose of the
lifetime annuity, the bridging factor, as specified in section 59-1355, Idaho
Code, shall be the bridging factor between the effective date of the order or
the last day of contributions by the member prior to the effective date of the
order, whichever is earliest, and the date of the first lifetime annuity
payment to the alternate payee.  The alternate payee shall have the right to
select any of the optional retirement allowances provided in section 59-1351,
Idaho Code. The alternate payee shall have the right to name a beneficiary.
    (7)  For benefits defined under chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, for
retired members, and for benefits under chapter 14, title 72, Idaho Code, the
retirement system shall include in the alternate payee's amount or percentage
of the benefit, on a proportional basis, all future adjustments, including
postretirement increases that are granted by the retirement system, and any
death benefit.
    (8)  For benefits under chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, for retired
members, the form of payment previously elected by the member under section
59-1351, Idaho Code, cannot be changed by a domestic retirement order, except
that a member's benefit may be adjusted as provided in section 59-1351(2),
Idaho Code, if an alternate payee waives all survivor benefits otherwise
payable as a contingent annuitant as provided in section 59-1319(1)(e), Idaho
Code. Furthermore, no segregated account will be established by the retirement
system for the alternate payee. Upon the death of the alternate payee, his/her
percentage of the benefit will revert to the person or persons, including the
member, who are entitled to the benefit under the system at the time of the
alternate payee's death.
    (9)  For benefits defined under chapter 14, title 72, Idaho Code, the
benefit transferred to the alternate payee shall start when the retirement
system begins paying benefits to the member, surviving spouse, or surviving
children of the member. The transferred benefit shall be payable only for the
lifetime of the alternate payee and it shall not revert to the member,
surviving spouse or surviving children of the member.
    (10) The retirement system shall be authorized to issue any and all
appropriate tax forms or reports for any payments made to the alternate payee.
    (11) The retirement system, the retirement board, and officers and
employees of the retirement system shall not be liable to any person for
making payments of any benefits in accordance with an approved domestic
retirement order.