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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.
- For a retiree, it is important that a divorce decree is promptly provided to the NDPERS office, as the date NDPERS receives the court approved judgement may impact the amount of a retiree’s monthly benefit payment. Upon receipt of the divorce decree, if applicable, your monthly benefit will be adjusted back to your higher Single Life amount.
- 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. If you are a Job Service Plan retiree, a Job Service QDRO Model should be used.
- 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 North Dakota Highway Patrolmen's Retirement System (NDHPRS), and North Dakota Administrative Code Chapter 71-02-10 and 71-05-08 (NDHPRS).
- It is important to update your beneficiary designation, marital status and contact information. To make changes, log in to your PERSLink Member Self Service (MSS) account online or complete the Notice of Change.