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NDPERS must approve all QDROs before being signed by the Court.
Overview
- Since NDPERS administers several retirement plans, any divorce decree submitted to the NDPERS office must clearly identify each specific retirement plan that it should be applied. This includes how the divorce decree should be applied if it may only be a division of benefits for one named individual retirement plan or multiple individually referenced retirement plans.
- Under the North Dakota Century Code 54-52-26.8 confidentiality guidelines, NDPERS staff are authorized to provide the appropriate QDRO Model to aid in drafting a Domestic Relations Order after legal representation is established or a copy of the divorce decree is received.
- NDPERS must approve the distribution of a member’s retirement benefits due to a divorce. Refer to the Release of Information – Legal Representation for disclosure of specific information relating to your divorce.
- Your attorney should contact NDPERS to obtain a copy of the NDPERS QDRO Model prior to compiling a domestic relations order.
- Domestic relations order must be deemed in compliance and qualified by NDPERS in accordance with North Dakota Century Code 54-52-17.6 (NDPERS) and 39-03.1-14.2 (NDHPRS), North Dakota Administrative Code Chapter 71-02-10 (NDPERS) and 71-05-08 (NDHPRS).
- Although domestic relations orders may be entered and approved prior to a member’s retirement or termination, no benefit can be paid out until the member’s account is in pay status or the member is eligible for early retirement.
- It is important to update your beneficiary designation, address, and phone number. To make changes, log in to your PERSLink Member Self Service (MSS) account online or complete the forms below.