SECTIONS 27400-27413 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 27400-27413

27400. (a) This chapter establishes the power of a court in a
dissolution of marriage or legal separation action with respect to
community property rights in benefits under this part and defines the
rights of nonparticipant spouses in the Cash Balance Benefit
Program.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, the termination, dissolution, or
nullity of a registered domestic partnership, or the legal
separation of partners in a registered domestic partnership, as
provided in Section 299 of the Family Code, shall be treated in the
same manner as a dissolution of marriage or legal separation of a
member and his or her spouse.

27401. (a) For purposes of this chapter, "nonparticipant spouse"
means a participant's spouse or former spouse who is being or has
been awarded a community property interest in the benefits determined
by reference to the amounts credited to a participant's employee and
employer accounts or the participant's annuity. A nonparticipant
spouse who is awarded separate nominal accounts is not a participant
in the Cash Balance Benefit Program. A nonparticipant spouse who
receives or is awarded an interest in a participant's annuity is not
a participant in the Cash Balance Benefit Program.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, a participant's registered
domestic partner or former registered domestic partner who is being
or has been awarded a community property interest in the benefits
determined by reference to the amounts credited to a participant's
employee and employer accounts or the participant's annuity shall be
treated in the same manner as a nonparticipant spouse.

27402. (a) Upon the legal separation or dissolution of marriage of
a participant, the court shall include in the judgment or a court
order the date on which the parties separated.
(b) The court may order in the judgment or court order that the
participant's employee and employer credits in accounts which are
attributable to periods of participation in the plan during the
marriage be divided into separate nominal accounts in the name of the
participant and the nonparticipant spouse, respectively. Any
employee or employer account credits that are not explicitly awarded
by the judgment or court order shall be deemed the exclusive property
of the participant.
(c) The determination of the court of the community property
rights pursuant to this section shall be consistent with this chapter
and shall address the rights of the nonparticipant spouse,
including, but not limited to, retirement benefits, disability
benefits, death benefits, or termination of the benefits of the
participant.

27403. The nonparticipant spouse who is awarded separate nominal
accounts pursuant to Section 27402 is not a participant of the Cash
Balance Benefit Program. The nonparticipant spouse is entitled only
to rights and benefits explicitly established by this chapter.

27404. The nonparticipant spouse is entitled to no benefits or
rights from the separate nominal accounts except as otherwise
provided in this chapter. However, this section shall not be
construed to limit any right arising from the accounts of a
nonparticipant with respect to the Cash Balance Benefit Program which
exists because the nonparticipant spouse is employed to perform
creditable service subject to coverage by the program.

27405. Upon the legal separation or dissolution of marriage of a
participant, the court may include in the judgment or court order a
determination of the community property rights of the parties in the
participant's annuity consistent with this section. Upon election
under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section
2610 of the Family Code, the court order awarding the nonparticipant
spouse a community property share in the benefits of a participant
receiving an annuity shall be consistent with this section.
(a) If the court does not award the entire annuity to the
participant and the participant is receiving an annuity under
paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 26807 or paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 26807.5, the court shall require
only that the system pay from the plan the nonparticipant spouse, by
separate warrant, his or her community property share of the
participant's annuity, or the option beneficiary's annuity or both.
(b) The nonparticipant spouse may designate a beneficiary to
receive his or her community property share of the participant's
annuity.

27406. The nonparticipant spouse who is awarded separate nominal
accounts with respect to the Cash Balance Benefit Program shall have
the right to a lump-sum distribution of amounts credited to the
account.
(a) The nonparticipant spouse shall file an application on a form
provided by the system to obtain the distribution.
(b) The distribution is effective when the system deposits in the
United States mail a warrant drawn in favor of the nonparticipant
spouse and addressed to the latest address for the nonparticipant
spouse on file with the system.
(c) If the nonparticipant spouse has elected on a form provided by
the system to transfer all or a specified portion of the accounts
that are eligible for direct trustee-to-trustee transfer under
Section 401(a)(31) of Title 26 of the United States Code to the
trustee of a qualified plan under Section 402 of Title 26 of the
United States Code, deposit in the United States mail of a notice
that the requested transfer has been made constitutes a distribution
of the nonparticipant spouse's credit balance from the separate
nominal accounts. This subdivision shall not apply to a
nonparticipant partner consistent with Section 402 of the Internal
Revenue Code.
(d) The nonparticipant spouse is deemed to have permanently waived
all rights to an annuity when the distribution becomes effective.
(e) The nonparticipant spouse may not cancel a distribution after
the distribution is effective.
(f) The nonparticipant spouse shall have no right to elect to
redeposit the distribution after the distribution is effective.

27407. No judgment or court order issued pursuant to this chapter
is binding on the plan with respect to the Cash Balance Benefit
Program until the plan has been joined as a party to the action and
has been served with a certified copy of the judgment or court order.

27408. (a) Sections 26107, 26700, 26802, 26806, 27000, 27002,
paragraphs (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 26807, and paragraphs
(1) and (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 26807.5 shall apply to a
nonparticipant spouse as if she or he were a participant.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), this section shall not be
construed to establish any right for the nonparticipant spouse that
is not explicitly established in Sections 27400 to 27405, inclusive,
and Sections 27409 to 27412, inclusive.

27409. Upon being awarded separate nominal accounts or an interest
in the annuity of a participant, a nonparticipant spouse shall
provide the system with proof of his or her date of birth, social
security number, and any other information requested by the system,
in the form and manner requested by the system.

27410. (a) The nonparticipant spouse who is awarded separate
nominal accounts shall have the right to designate, pursuant to
Sections 27100 to 27102, inclusive, a beneficiary or beneficiaries to
receive the amounts credited to the separate nominal accounts of the
nonparticipant spouse on his or her date of death, and any annuity
attributable to the separate nominal accounts which is unpaid on the
date of the death of the nonparticipant spouse.
(b) This section shall not be construed to provide the
nonparticipant spouse with any right to elect a joint and survivor
annuity pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (b) of
Section 26807 or subdivision (a) of Section 26807.5.

27411. The nonparticipant spouse who is awarded a separate nominal
account under this part shall have the right to an annuity pursuant
to paragraph (1) or (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 26807.5.
(a) The nonparticipant spouse shall be eligible for an annuity if
the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) The nonparticipant spouse has at least three thousand five
hundred dollars ($3,500) in his or her separate nominal accounts.
(2) The nonparticipant spouse has attained the age of 55 years or
more.
(b) An annuity of a nonparticipant spouse shall become effective
upon any date designated by the nonparticipant spouse, provided:
(1) The requirements of subdivision (a) are satisfied.
(2) The nonparticipant spouse has filed an application for an
annuity on a properly executed form provided by the system, which is
executed no earlier than 90 days before the effective date of the
annuity.

27412. The system shall include the contribution and earnings
credits awarded to a nonparticipant spouse in the judgment or court
order to determine the eligibility of a participant for an annuity.

27413. It is the intent of the Legislature to abolish any
application of the terminable interest doctrine in California
relating to the division of public retirement benefits of a
participant in the event of dissolution of marriage or death if the
division is made under this chapter.