ENGROSSED

H. B. 2495


(By Delegate Warner)

[Introduced March 11, 1997; referred to the

Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact sections twenty-fourand forty-six, article ten, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the West Virginia public employees retirement act; annuity options; providing options when a member obtains a divorce; and requiring a divorced member to prove that there is no qualified domestic relations order in effect as a condition for the member to elect certain annuity options; clarifying that public employees retirements are subject to qualified domestic relations orders.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections twenty-four and forty-six, article ten, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.

§5-10-24. Annuity options.
Prior to the effective date of his or her retirement, but not thereafter except upon the death of a spouse, a member may elect to receive his or her annuity as a straight life annuity payable throughout his or her life, or he or she may elect to receive the actuarial equivalent, at the time, of his or her straight life annuity in a reduced annuity payable throughout his or her life, and nominate a beneficiary, in accordance with option A or B set forth below:
Option A -- Joint and survivor annuity. -- Upon the death of a retirant, who elected option A, his or her reduced annuity shall be continued throughout the life of and paid to the beneficiary, having an insurable interest in the retirant's life, whom the retirant nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the board of trustees prior to the effective date of his or her retirement; or
Option B -- Modified joint and survivor annuity. -- Upon the death of a retirant who elected option B, one half of his or her reduced annuity shall be continued throughout the life of and paid to the beneficiary, having an insurable interest in the retirant's life, whom the retirant nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the board of trustees prior to the effective date of his or her retirement.
Upon the death of a spouse, a retirant may elect any of the retirement options offered by the provisions of this section in an amount adjusted on a fair basis to be of equal actuarial value as the annuity prospectively in effect relative to the surviving member at the time the new option is elected. A divorced member may elect any retirement options offered by the provisions of this section, upon the divorce of that member, in an amount adjusted on a fair basis to be of equal actuarial value of the annuity prospectively in effect relative to the member at the time the option is elected. The member must prove to the satisfaction of the executive secretary that a qualified domestic relations order has not been entered that is binding on the member, before the change in election of options may be authorized.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a divorced member of the West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System may elect any of the retirement options otherwise available if the member proves that the member is not bound by a qualified domestic relations order.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
 HB2495 HFA Staton 3/27 #1
Delegates Staton and Michael move to amend the bill striking out the enacting section, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
" That sections twenty-four and forty-six, article ten, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows: ",
And,
On page three, following section twenty-four, by inserting the following section:
"§5-10-46. Right to benefits not subject to execution, etc.; assignments prohibited; subject to qualified domestic relations order; deductions for group insurance; setoffs for fraud.
The right of a person to any benefit provided for in this article shall not be subject to execution, attachment, garnishment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws, or other process whatsoever, nor shall any assignment thereof be enforceable in any court, with the exception that such benefits are subject to a qualified domestic relations order as that term is defined in section 414 (p) of the Internal Revenue Cod: Provided, That should a member be covered by a group insurance or prepayment plan participated in by a participating public employer, and should he or she be permitted to, and elect to, continue such coverage as a retirant, he may authorize the board of trustees to have deducted from his or her annuity the payments required of him to continue coverage under such group insurance or prepayment plan: Provided, however, That a participating public employer shall have the right of setoff for any claim arising from embezzlement by, or fraud of, a member, retirant or beneficiary."
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