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Government Retirement Plans are Exempt from the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
A substantial number of State court orders are
drafted under the mistaken belief that ERISA applies to government retirement
benefits. Sections 1003(b)(1) and 1051 of title 29, United States Code, exempt
federal, state, county and city plans because they are “governmental plans” as
defined in section 1001(23) of title 29, United States Code.
ERISA created the term “qualified domestic
relations order” (QDRO) to describe a court order that summarizes the division
of retirement benefits under ERISA plans. QDRO’s are not acceptable orders when
dividing government benefits. All federal government plans such as the Federal
Employees Retirement System (FERS), Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and
all the Military branches have their own set of rules and requirements for
dividing benefits incident to a domestic relations action. Most state plans
have rules governing their plans, but many county and city plans have yet to
adopt rules governing the division of their plans.
Other
Governmental Plans:
There are
numerous other "governmental" plans. They include the following:
Although not considered “governmental plans”,
church sponsored plans are also exempt from ERISA.
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