La. Admin. Code tit. 32 § VII-1503

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 8, August 20, 2024

Section VII-1503 - Nonassignability

A. It is agreed that neither the participant, nor any beneficiary, nor any other designee shall have any right to commute, sell, assign, transfer, or otherwise convey the right to receive any payments hereunder, which payments and right thereto are expressly declared to be nonassignable and nontransferable; and in the event of attempt to assign or transfer, the commission shall have no further liability hereunder, nor shall any unpaid amounts be subject to attachment, garnishment or execution, or be transferable by operation of law in event of bankruptcy, or insolvency, except to the extent otherwise required by law.

B. Qualified domestic relations orders approved by the commission shall be administered as follows.

1.

a. To the extent required under a final judgment, decree, or order made pursuant to a state domestic relations law, herein referred to as a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) which is duly filed upon the commission, any portion of a participant's account may be paid or set aside for payment to an alternate payee.

NOTE: For purposes for this §1503, an alternate payee is a person or persons designated by a domestic relations order who may be a spouse, former spouse, or a child of the participant.

b. Where necessary to carry out the terms of such a QDRO, a separate account shall be established with respect to the alternate payee, and such person(s) shall be entitled to make investment selections with respect thereto in the same manner as the participant. All costs and charges incurred in carrying out the investment selection shall be deducted from the account created for the alternate payee making the investment selection.

2. Any amounts so set aside for an alternate payee shall be paid out immediately in a lump sum, unless the QDRO directs a different form of payment or later payment date. Nothing in this §1503. B shall be construed to authorize any amounts to be distributed under the employer's plan at a time or in a form that is not permitted under IRC §457. Any payment made to a person other than the participant pursuant to this §1503. B shall be reduced by required income tax withholding. Such withholding and income tax reporting shall be done under the terms of the Internal Revenue Code as amended from time to time.

3. The commission's liability to pay benefits to a participant shall be reduced to the extent that amounts have been paid or set aside for payment to an alternate payee pursuant to this §1503. B No amount shall be paid or set aside unless the commission, or its agents or assigns, has been provided with satisfactory evidence releasing them from any further claim by the participant with respect to these amounts. The participant shall be deemed to have released the commission from any claim with respect to such amounts in any case in which the commission has been notified of or otherwise joined in a proceeding relating to a QDRO, which sets aside a portion of the participant's account for an alternate payee, and the participant fails to obtain an order of the court in the proceeding relieving the employer from the obligation to comply with the QDRO.

4. The commission shall not be obligated to comply with any judgment, decree or order which attempts to require the plan to violate any plan provision or any provision of § 457 of the Internal Revenue Code. Neither the commission nor its agents or assigns shall be obligated to defend against or set aside any judgment, decree, or order described herein or any legal order relating to the division of a participant's benefits under the plan unless the full expense of such legal action is borne by the participant. In the event that the participant's action (or inaction) nonetheless causes the commission, its agents or assigns to incur such expense, the amount of the expense may be charged against the participant's account and thereby reduce the commission's obligation to pay benefits to the participant. In the course of any proceeding relating to divorce, separation, or child support, the commission, its agents and assigns shall be authorized to disclose information relating to the participant's individual account to the participant's spouse, former spouse or child (including the legal representatives of the alternate payee), or to a court.

5. Any Conforming Equitable Distribution Order (CEDO), filed prior to January 2002, may be amended to comply with this §1503 B, pursuant to a Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO), which is duly filed upon the commission.

La. Admin. Code tit. 32, § VII-1503

Promulgated by the Department of the Treasury, Deferred Compensation Commission, LR 24:1970 (October 1998), amended LR 28:1502 (June 2002).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. §42:1301-1308 and IRC §457.