Table of Contents
  
DRO Home | NYSTRS Home
A. System Overview
 
      1. Introduction
      2. What is NYSTRS?
      3. What type of plan does NYSTRS administer?
B. NYSTRS Benefits
 
      1. What types of benefits are provided by NYSTRS?
      2. How are member benefits calculated?
      3. What are membership tiers and how do they affect the benefit calculation?
      4. What entitlements do members and retirees have to contributions made to NYSTRS?
      5. Why are retirement benefits of significance in a divorce?
      6. Does a divorce automatically nullify a member's designation of the former spouse as the beneficiary of his/her death benefit?
      7. When does the System disclose information in a member's or retiree's file?
C. Domestic Relations Orders Basics
      1. What role does NYSTRS play when a member's benefit is subject to equitable distribution?
      2. What is a DRO?
      3. Does the System mandate a specific form of DRO?
      4. What can NYSTRS be ordered to do by a DRO?
      5. What cannot be ordered by a DRO?
      6. Are there circumstances in which a spouse or former spouse could lay claim to a member's benefit without there being a DRO in place?
      7. Is NYSTRS subject to tax code or ERISA provisions which apply to Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs)?
      8. What must happen once a court has signed a DRO?
      9. What is an acceptable certification of a DRO?
      10. What happens if a certified copy of a signed DRO is not filed with NYSTRS?
D. DRO Specifics
      1. What happens when a certified copy of a signed DRO is filed with the System before the member is eligible to receive a retirement benefit?
      2. What happens when a certified copy of a signed DRO is filed with the System after the member has begun receiving retirement benefits?
      3. May a DRO specify that a member must elect a particular form of post-retirement survivor benefit?
      4. May a DRO provide that a member may not elect any optional form of post-retirement survivor protection?
      5. Does a requirement in a DRO that the member must elect a post-retirement survivor benefit in favor of an alternate payee affect the ability of a member to provide post-retirement survivor protection to a subsequent spouse or loved one?
      6. How will a DRO affect a retired member's entitlement to cost-of-living adjustments?
E. Division of Benefits
      1. Can a member and his or her spouse agree upon a division of the member's benefit entitlements without being divorced?
      2. Is it necessary for a divorce always to result in a division of a member's retirement benefits?
      3. How should a member's retirement benefit be divided between the member and his or her spouse in equitable distribution?
      4. Does NYSTRS determine a present value for a member's future retirement benefits?
      5. Is there any way in which the System can be required to pay a portion of a member's current or future benefit to a member's spouse, other than through an order of support pursuant to CPLR §§5241 et seq.?
      6. When may the member's former spouse begin to receive a share of the member's retirement benefit?
      7. Are there circumstances in which a former spouse could cease receiving a share of the member's retirement benefit after the member has retired?
      8. Are there any other limitations on the alternate payee's share of a member's retirement benefit?
      9. Can it make a difference if the member has already retired when the parties are divorced?
      10. What happens to the amount of a member's benefit in retirement when a member is required to elect a post-retirement survivor benefit?
      11. What are the ways in which the retirement benefit payable during the joint lives of the parties be divided?
      12. What happens if a retiring member who is required by a DRO to elect a joint and survivor option wishes to provide "pop-up" protection?
F. Issues Related to Majauskas-type Formulas
      1. When a Majauskas-type formula is used to divide a member's benefit, are there any special matters which should be taken into account?
      2. How is service which is purchased by a member accounted for in a Majauskas-type formula?
      3. How is RSSL Article 19 credit accounted for in a Majauskas-type formula?
      4. Is all of a member's service used in the denominator of a Majauskas-type formula if the member has more years of credited service than are permitted to be used in the calculation of the member's retirement benefit?
G. Impact of Divorce
      1. What if a member dies prior to retiring?
      2. What if a member withdraws from the System?
      3. What if a member retires for disability?
      4. What if a member fails to repay a loan?
      5. What if a Tier 1 or 2 member withdraws his/her accumulated contributions in the Annuity Savings Fund (ASF) at retirement?
      6. What if a Tier 1 or 2 member does not withdraw his/her accumulated contributions in the Annuity Savings Fund (ASF) at retirement?
H. Miscellaneous
      1. How are the System's payments of the alternate payee's share of a member's retirement benefits reported to the IRS?
      2. What happens to an alternate payee's share of a retirement benefit if the retired member predeceases the alternate payee?
      3. What happens to an alternate payee's share of a retirement benefit if the alternate payee predeceases the retired member?
      4. What happens to the post-retirement death benefit when a retired member dies?
Appendix A – Sample DRO Language