(1) An EDRO may provide for the payment of a benefit to an alternate payee beginning on or after the participant‘s earliest retirement date but before the participant terminates employment as provided in this section. An alternate payee shall begin to receive the payment of a benefit under this section effective the first day of the month immediately following the month in which the alternate payee notifies the retirement system of his or her election to begin to receive payment of his or her interest in the benefit of a participant.
  (2) If an alternate payee elects to receive his or her interest in the benefit of a participant after the participant’s earliest retirement date but before the participant’s termination of employment, the alternate payee is only entitled to the actuarial equivalent of the alternate payee’s share of the participant’s benefit that would be payable when the participant reaches age 60. If the participant retires before age 60, the retirement system shall recalculate the benefit payable to the alternate payee so that the recalculated benefit payable to the alternate payee plus the benefit previously paid to the alternate payee are the actuarial equivalent of the alternate payee’s share of the benefit payable to the participant. If the recalculated benefit is more than the benefit the alternate payee is receiving, the retirement system shall begin paying the recalculated benefit to the alternate payee effective the first day of the month immediately following the month in which the participant retires.

Terms Used In Michigan Laws 38.1705

  • Alternate payee: means a spouse of a participant under a judgment of separate maintenance, or a former spouse, child, or dependent of a participant, who is named in an eligible domestic relations order. See Michigan Laws 38.1702
  • Benefit: means an annuity, a pension, a retirement allowance, or an optional benefit accrued or accruing to a participant under a retirement system or a postretirement subsidy payable to a participant under a retirement system. See Michigan Laws 38.1702
  • Earliest retirement date: means the earliest date on which a participant meets all of the requirements for retirement under a retirement system except for termination of employment. See Michigan Laws 38.1702
  • EDRO: means a domestic relations order that is considered an eligible domestic relations order under section 11 or that meets all of the following requirements:
  (i) The domestic relations order states the names and last known addresses of the participant and alternate payee. See Michigan Laws 38.1702
  • month: means a calendar month; the word "year" a calendar year; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the words "year of our Lord". See Michigan Laws 8.3j
  • Participant: means a member, deferred member, vested former member, deceased former member, or retirant under the retirement system. See Michigan Laws 38.1702
  • Retirement system: means a public employee retirement system created and established by this state or any political subdivision of this state. See Michigan Laws 38.1702