(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, payment of any pension, annuity, retirement allowance, disability benefit, death benefit, refund benefit or other benefit under any public employer retirement plan other than the Public Employees Retirement System that would otherwise be made to a person entitled to benefits under the plan shall be paid, in whole or in part, to an alternate payee if and to the extent expressly provided for in the terms of any judgment of annulment or dissolution of marriage or of separation, or the terms of any court order or court-approved property settlement agreement incident to any judgment of annulment or dissolution of marriage or of separation. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the total actuarial value of benefits payable to a member and to an alternate payee under this section may not be greater than the value of the benefits the member would otherwise be eligible to receive if the annulment or dissolution of marriage or separation had not occurred. Any payment under this subsection to an alternate payee bars recovery by any other person.

(2) A judgment, order or settlement providing for payment to an alternate payee under subsection (1) of this section may also provide:

(a) That payments to the alternate payee may commence, at the election of the alternate payee, at any time after the earlier of:

(A) The earliest date the member would be eligible to receive retirement benefits if the member separates from service; or

(B) The date the member actually separates from service due to death, disability, retirement or termination of employment.

(b) That the alternate payee may elect to receive payment in any form of pension, annuity, retirement allowance, disability benefit, death benefit, refund benefit or other benefit, except a benefit in the form of a joint and survivor annuity, available to the member under the public employer retirement plan, or that would be available to the member if the member retired or separated from service at the time of election by the alternate payee, without regard to the form of benefit elected by the member.

(c) That the alternate payee’s life is the measuring life for the purposes of measuring payments to the alternate payee under the form of benefit selected by the alternate payee.

(d) That death benefits to which the alternate payee has been entitled as the spouse of a member shall be available to the alternate payee after the effective date of the judgment of annulment or dissolution of marriage or of separation.

(3) Subsection (1) of this section applies only to payments made by the public employer retirement plan after the date of receipt by the administrators of the plan of written notice of the judgment, order or agreement and such additional information and documentation as the plan administrators may prescribe.

(4)(a) A judgment, order or agreement providing for payment to an alternate payee under subsection (1) of this section may not provide for payment to an alternate payee of:

(A) Any disability payments provided to a member of a public employer retirement plan in lieu of workers’ compensation benefits pursuant to ORS § 656.027 (6), to the extent those payments are to be made before the member attains 55 years of age; or

(B) Any medical or hospital benefits payable to a member as part of a disability benefit provided to a member of a public employer retirement plan in lieu of workers’ compensation benefits pursuant to ORS § 656.027 (6), regardless of the member’s age.

(b) Paragraph (a) of this subsection does not prevent a court from considering the disability payments described in that paragraph in making a division of property pursuant to ORS § 107.105 or an award of support.

(5) Any public employer or public employer retirement plan that is required by the provisions of this section to make a payment to some person other than a member of the retirement plan offered by the public employer shall charge and collect out of the benefits payable to the member and the other person actual and reasonable administrative expenses and related costs incurred by the public employer or public employer retirement plan in obtaining data and making calculations that are necessary by reason of the provisions of this section. A public employer or public employer retirement plan may not charge more than $300 for total administrative expenses and related costs incurred in obtaining data or making calculations that are necessary by reason of the provisions of this section. A public employer or public employer retirement plan that charges and collects administrative expenses and related costs under the provisions of this subsection shall allocate those expenses between the member of the retirement plan and any other person receiving a benefit from the plan based on the fraction of the benefit received by the member or person.

(6) As used in this section:

(a) ‘Court’ means any court of appropriate jurisdiction of this or any other state or of the District of Columbia.

(b) ‘Member’ means a person entitled to a benefit from a public employer retirement plan.

(c) ‘Public employer’ means the state, one of its agencies, any city, county, municipal or public corporation, any political subdivision of the state or any instrumentality thereof, or an agency created by two or more such political subdivisions to provide themselves governmental services.

(d) ‘Public employer retirement plan’ means any system, program, annuity, contract or other plan established by a public employer for the purpose of providing a pension, annuity, retirement allowance or disability benefit to officers or employees of the public employer. [1993 c.715 § 2; 2003 c.576 § 403; 2015 c.506 § 3]

COVERAGE FOR POLICE OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTERS