Section 1600

Section 1600.605 Requirements for a Valid Qualified Illinois Domestic Relations Order

SURS will accept a court order as a valid QILDRO or QILDRO Calculation Court Order if it meets all of the following requirements:

a) The following requirements apply to the QILDRO and the QILDRO Calculation Court Order:

1) The order must be accompanied by a $50 non-refundable processing fee, by check or money order payable to the State Universities Retirement System.

2) The order must be a certified copy of the original.

3) The order must have been issued by an Illinois court of competent jurisdiction in a proceeding for declaration of invalidity of marriage, legal separation or dissolution of marriage that provides for the distribution of property, or any proceeding to amend or enforce the property distribution. A judgment, order or notice of income withholding for support under a support enforcement mechanism under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (42 USC 666) or any other state law that purports to divide or garnish the member's retirement benefit under any proceeding for the declaration of invalidity of marriage, legal separation or dissolution of marriage will not be honored by SURS unless the judgment, order or notice is accompanied by a QILDRO (and if applicable, a QILDRO Calculation Court Order) issued by an Illinois court.

4) The order must contain the name, residence address and Social Security number of the member.

5) The order must contain the name, residence address and Social Security number of the alternate payee.

6) The order must identify the State Universities Retirement System as the retirement system to which it is directed.

7) The order must identify the court that issued it.

8) The order must apply only to benefits that are statutorily subject to QILDROs, as provided in Code Section 1-119(b)(1).

9) The orders and, if applicable, the Consent to Issuance of QILDRO, must be in the form adopted by SURS as of the date the order is received. Any alterations will invalidate the order.

10) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection (a)(10), the effective date of the order must be after July 1, 1999 and before the date of death of the member. If the effective date of the order is on or after the member's date of death, SURS will deem the effective date of the posthumous order as if it had been entered on the day immediately prior to the member's date of death if the order is dated no later than 6 months after the date of death and:

A) any applicable consent requirements under subsection (b)(1) were met prior to the member's date of death; or

B) the order is accompanied by a certified copy of a decree of dissolution of marriage that is dated before the date of death of the member and incorporates the terms of a written marital settlement agreement that was signed by both parties before the date of death of the member and provides direction for the division of the member's SURS benefits under a QILDRO.

b) The following additional requirements apply only to the QILDRO:

1) If the QILDRO applies to a person who became a SURS member before July 1, 1999, it must be accompanied by the original Consent to Issuance of QILDRO form signed by the member, or a certified copy of the original. The consent cannot be signed by a judge, sheriff or any person other than the member. A QILDRO issued on or after July 1, 2006 that modifies a QILDRO issued prior to July 1, 2006 must be accompanied by an original Consent to Issuance of QILDRO signed by the member on or after July 1, 2006. If the alternate payee is unable to obtain a signed consent from the member, the required consent can be established if the QILDRO is accompanied by a certified copy of a decree of dissolution of marriage that incorporates the terms of a written marital settlement agreement that was signed by both parties and provides direction for the division of the member's SURS benefits under a QILDRO.

2) The QILDRO must specify each benefit to which it applies, and it must specify only one method by which the benefit shall be paid to the alternate payee.

3) If any benefit is to be paid using the Marital Portion Benefit Calculation, the QILDRO must comply with Code Section 1-119(n)IX and the QILDRO must contain language in conformance with Section 1-119(n)IX(1) and (2) properly completed. The "other" option must only be checked for the purpose of using a combination of permissive service and regular service. If the "other" option is checked, a supplemental order stating the details of the combination must accompany the QILDRO. The supplemental order must not purport to establish a formula differing from the ones appearing under Code Section 1-119(n) or purport to create new classes of service credit.

4) If the member is a participant of the Traditional or Portable Benefit Package, the order must designate whether the alternate payee will receive automatic annual increases as provided under Code Section 1-119(n)IV.

5) If the member is a participant of the Self-Managed Plan who has an account balance, then the QILDRO may only provide for the division of the account balance as of a certain date. If the Self-Managed Plan member is receiving benefits under an annuity contract, then the QILDRO may only divide the member's retirement benefit or death benefit, if any, or both.

c) The following additional requirements apply only to the QILDRO Calculation Court Order:

1) The QILDRO Calculation Court Order must allocate benefits consistent with the underlying QILDRO. Benefits that will never become payable on or after the date the QILDRO Calculation Court Order is filed need not be allocated under the QILDRO Calculation Court Order

2) Benefits allocated using a calculation method on the QILDRO Calculation Court Order must contain a clear result of the equation. SURS is not obligated to review or verify the equations or assist in the calculations to determine the benefits.

(Source: Amended at 41 Ill. Reg. 11606, effective September 1, 2017)