34 TAC §103.3
The Texas County and District Retirement System proposes
an amendment to §103.3, concerning the beneficiary designations and payment
elections requiring spousal consent. The proposed amendment deletes the requirement
that a member not eligible for retirement certify to the member's current
marital status on any document filed with the system on which the member makes
a beneficiary designation or benefit payment election and deletes the requirement
that a member not eligible for retirement obtain the consent of the member's
spouse on any document with the system on which the member designates a person
other than the member's spouse as sole primary beneficiary. The spousal consent
requirements are unchanged with respect to withdrawal or retirement applications
filed by a member who is eligible for retirement.
Tom Harrison, Deputy Director and General Counsel of the Texas County and
District Retirement System, has determined that for the first five-year period
the rule is in effect there will be no fiscal implications for state or local
government as a result of enforcing or administering the rule.
Mr. Harrison has also determined that for each year of the first five years
the rule is in effect the public benefit anticipated as a result of administering
the rule will be the simplification of administrative procedures for collecting
and maintaining member information. There will be no costs to small businesses.
There are no anticipated economic costs to persons who are required to comply
with the rule as proposed.
Comments on the proposed new rule may be submitted to Tom Harrison, Deputy
Director and General Counsel, Texas County and District Retirement System,
P.O. Box 2034, Austin, TX 78768-2034.
The rule is proposed under the Government Code, §844.010,
which authorizes the board of trustees of the Texas County and District Retirement
System to adopt rules with respect to spousal consent requirements and §
845.102, which provides the board of trustees with the authority to adopt
rules necessary or desirable for efficient administration of the system.
No Government Code is affected by this proposed rule.
§103.3.Beneficiary Designations and Payment Elections Requiring Spousal Consent.
(a)
A member
eligible for retirement
must certify
to the current marital status of the member on
any withdrawal or retirement
application
[
each document
] filed with the system [
after December 31, 1999, on which the member designates a primary beneficiary
or selects the form of payment of a retirement benefit or survivor annuity,
except for the designation of a beneficiary to receive a supplemental death
benefit
].
(1)
A member
eligible for retirement
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
benefit [
or a survivor annuity
] other than as a qualified joint-and-survivor
annuity[
,
] unless the member's spouse consents to the [
designation
or
] selection.
(2)
A member eligible
for retirement
[
to apply
for and receive a service retirement annuity
] who is [
currently
] married may not withdraw from membership and receive a refund[
,
] unless the member's spouse consents to the refund.
(3)
A member who is [
currently
] unmarried may designate
any beneficiary and select any form of payment of a retirement benefit [
or a survivor annuity
] permitted under the Act.
(b)
The consent of a spouse required by subsection (a) of this
section must be in writing and either witnessed by an officer or employee
of the system or acknowledged by 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 system 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 and the director
is satisfied that a guardianship of the estate is not necessary;
(5)
the spouse and the member will have been married for less
than one year as of the date the member files a valid application for a refund
of the member's accumulated deposits, or as of the effective retirement date
designated by the member on the member's valid application for retirement;
or
(6)
no service performed by the member as an employee of a
participating subdivision and credited in the system was performed during
the marriage of the member and the spouse.
(d)
For the purposes of this section, the term "qualified joint-and
survivor annuity" means a retirement annuity for the life of the member with
a survivor annuity for the life of the
member's
spouse which is
not less than 50% of the amount of the annuity which is payable during the
joint lives of the member and spouse[
, or, if the member dies before
retirement, a survivor annuity for the life of the spouse which is not less
than the amount of an annuity described by §103.2(a)(1) of this title
(relating to Additional Optional Benefits) computed as if the member had retired
on the last day of the month preceding the member's death
].
(e)
An unrevoked beneficiary designation on file with the system
as of December 31, 1999, or filed thereafter [
in accordance with this
section
] remains valid until revoked by the member, or, if the member's
spouse is a designated beneficiary, until the member and the spouse become
divorced.
(f)
The system and employees of the system may rely upon the
certification of the member filed under this section, and are not liable to
any person for making payments of any benefits in accordance with the certification
even though the certification is later shown to have been untrue on the date
of execution.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State on January 12, 2007.
TRD-200700114
Tom Harrison
Deputy Director and General Counsel
Texas County and District Retirement System
Proposed date of adoption: March 1, 2007
For further information, please call: (512) 328-8889