1. (1) A family law order (FLO) may distribute all or a portion of a DROP participant's DROP benefit to an alternate payee. To do so, the FLO must specifically reference distribution of a DROP benefit and provide a specific method for determining the amount of the DROP benefit to be paid to the alternate payee.
2. (2) The alternate payee named in the FLO is entitled to the same distribution options available to the participant and as allowed by the IRS.
3. (3) A FLO may distribute all or a portion of a DROP participant's DROP benefit even if the participant joined the DROP subsequent to approval of the FLO.
4. (4) A FLO that does not specifically address a DROP benefit will not be considered to distribute any portion of the payee's DROP benefit to an alternate payee.
5. (5) A FLO cannot specifically require or forbid that the payee participate in the DROP.
6. (6) To distribute any portion of a participant's DROP benefit, a FLO approved prior to the enactment of the DROP legislation (May 1, 2001) must be amended to specifically address the DROP benefit.
7. (7) A DROP benefit cannot be distributed pursuant to a FLO until the DROP participant terminates employment.

Authorizing statute(s): 19-2-403, 19-9-1203, MCA

Implementing statute(s): 19-9-1208, MCA

History: NEW, 2003 MAR p. 1801, Eff. 8/15/03; TRANS, from ARM 2.43.1113, 2008 MAR p. 2467, Eff. 12/1/08.