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Divorce and QDRO - QDRO Model Option 2
The QDRO models listed below are for retirees who selected Option 2 form of payment.
The QDRO models listed below are for retirees who selected Option 2 form of payment.
Use this model if you are a retired state employee or retired teacher who selected the Option 2 form of payment, or if you are an active state employee or teacher and at the time of your retirement you will be required to elect the Joint and Survivor Option 2 form of payment and name your ex-spouse as beneficiary.
Qualified Domestic Relations Order for retired state employees or retired teachers who selected the Option 2 form of payment
The QDRO models listed below are for retirees who selected Option 2 form of payment.
The QDRO models listed below are for retirees who selected Option 1 form of payment.
Use this model if you are a retired state employee or retired teacher who selected the Option 1 form of payment, or if you are an active state employee or teacher and at the time of your retirement you will be required to elect the Joint and Survivor Option 1 form of payment and name your ex-spouse as beneficiary.
Qualified Domestic Relations Order for state employees or retired teachers who selected Option 1
The QDRO models listed below are for retirees who selected Option 1 form of payment.
The QDRO models listed below are for retirees who selected the maximum benefit form of payment.
Use this model if you are a retired state employee or retired teacher who selected the maximum benefit form of payment, or if you are an active state employee or teacher and your ex-spouse’s benefit is to be calculated as if you selected the maximum benefit form of payment.
Qualified Domestic Relations Order for state employees and teachers
The QDRO models listed below are for retirees who selected the maximum benefit form of payment.
A Domestic Relations Order (DRO) is a court order or judgment that sets forth how a member’s retirement benefit is to be divided upon retirement. The Order must be a judgment, decree, or court order relating to the provision of marital property rights awarded to a spouse. (See RIGL §15-5-16.1)
A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is an order that assigns an Alternate Payee a portion of the pension benefits payable to a Participant of a retirement plan.
Box 1 - Gross Distribution. This is the sum of all benefits paid to you by ERSRI during the previous calendar year.
Box 2a - Taxable Amount. This box contains the sum of your benefit payments minus your non-taxable monthly exclusion amounts.
Box 2b - This box is not applicable to ERSRI.
Box 3 - This box is not applicable to ERSRI.
Box 4 - Federal Income Tax Withheld. This box shows any federal income tax withheld from your benefit payments during the year.
Box 5 - Employee Contributions. This box contains the sum of your non-taxable monthly exclusions for the tax year. The “monthly exclusion amount” or “monthly exclusion” is the part of your benefit on which you have already paid taxes. If you made any after-tax contributions to your ERSRI account — for example, regular contributions you made before 1986 or through a buyback of service time — then you do not have to pay taxes on that part of your benefit. The non-taxable portion of your benefit listed in Box 5 is calculated using the Simplified Method in IRS Publication 575 - Pension and Annuity Income.
Box 6 - This box is not applicable to ERSRI.
Box 7 - Distribution Code. IRS code identifying the distribution you received. These codes are explained on the back of the 1099-R Form.
Boxes 8, 9a, 9b, 10, 11, 12 and 13 - These boxes are not applicable to ERSRI.
Box 14 - State Income Tax Withheld. Any Rhode Island State income tax deducted from your checks is shown in this box. Note: ERSRI does not withhold state income taxes for any state other than Rhode Island.
Box 15 – State/Payer’s State No. ERSRI’s state tax ID number.
Box 16 – State Distribution. Rhode Island state taxable income.
Boxes 17 through 19 – These three boxes are left intentionally blank and are not applicable to ERSRI.
Please be advised that these questions and answers should not be relied upon in a legal setting, and do not supersede any law or promulgated rule or regulation. These questions and answers apply the laws, rules and regulations, and policies that are in effect as of December 31, 2021. Should the laws, rules and regulations, and/or policies change, these questions and answers will no longer be applicable.
ERSRI is required by law to adjust a member’s disability retirement allowance if the member earns over a certain amount of money. ERSRI determines whether you have earned over the statutory limit by reviewing your Annual Continuing Statement and supporting documentation.
Rhode Island General Laws § 36-10-17; § 16-16-19; and § 45-21-24 govern the readjustment of disability retirement allowance.
You are permitted to make the difference between the amount you would have earned had you still been employed in the same position from which you retired and your disability retirement allowance. See the below example:
Once a member attains his or her minimum age of service retirement, he or she will no longer receive an Annual Continuing Statement. Please note that you will receive an Annual Disclosure Statement the calendar year after you attain your minimum age of service retirement because we request your earnings information for the previous calendar year. For example, if you attain your minimum age of service retirement in 2021 you will receive an Annual Continuing Statement in 2022 in which you must provide your 2021 tax information.
If you do not provide ERSRI with a completed Annual Continuing Statement including all supporting documentation, your disability retirement allowance may be suspended until your statement is received and analyzed.
No. Pursuant to RIGL § 38-2-2(4)(O), tax returns are not public documents.
If you filed a joint tax return, ERSRI will not be able to differentiate whether the earnings are attributable to you or your spouse without receiving the W-2s, wage attachments, and other business income attachments and/or schedules for both you and your spouse.
Yes, you will be mailed written notice at least thirty (30) days before your disability retirement allowance is adjusted. The notice will contain the amount owed and the adjustment period.
You are not required to see a doctor. However, ERSRI has the legal authority to send you for an independent medical examination (IME), at ERSRI’s expense, once per year. By not submitting an Annual Medical Update, ERSRI may be more likely to send you to an IME.
If you refuse to see an IME that has been assigned to you by ERSRI, your disability retirement allowance may be permanently revoked.
Rhode Island General Laws § 36-10-17; §16-16-19; and § 45-21-23 govern the reexamination of disability retirees.