1. For the purpose of determining eligibility for benefits under this chapter, a member's years of service is the total of the years of service earned under this chapter and the years of service employment or years of service credit earned in any number of the following, the total of which may not exceed twelve months of credit per year: a. The public employees retirement system. b. The teachers' fund for retirement. c. The teachers' insurance and annuity association of America - college retirement equities fund (TIAA-CREF), for service credit earned while employed by North Dakota institutions of higher education. 2. If a member terminates eligible employment under this chapter, if that member has not received a refund of the member's accumulated deductions, and if that member begins eligible employment in a plan described in subdivision a or b of subsection 1, that member may elect to remain an inactive member of the system without refund of the member's accumulated deductions. The election must be made within ninety days after beginning the eligible employment. The board shall terminate the inactive status of a member under this subsection if the member gains eligible employment under this chapter or if the member terminates eligible employment under a plan described in subdivision a or b of subsection 1. 3. Pursuant to rules adopted by the board, a member who has service credit in the system and in any of the alternate plans described in subdivision a or b of subsection 1 is entitled to benefits under this chapter. The employee may elect to have benefits calculated using the benefit formula in section 39-03.1-11 under either of the following calculation methods: a. By using the final average salary as calculated in section 39-03.1-11. If the participating member has worked for less than thirty-six months at retirement, the final average salary is the average salary for the total months of employment. b. Using the final average salary as calculated in section 39-03.1-11, with service credit not to exceed one month in any month when combined with the service credit earned in the alternate retirement system. The board shall calculate benefits for an employee under this subsection by using only those years of service employment earned under this chapter.
39-03.1-14.2. Benefit payments to alternate payee under qualified domestic relations order. 1. The board shall pay retirement benefits in accordance with the applicable requirements of any qualified domestic relations order. The board shall review a domestic relations order submitted to it to determine if the domestic relations order is qualified under this section and under rules established by the board for determining the qualified status of domestic relations orders and administering distributions under the qualified orders. Upon determination that a domestic relations order is qualified, the board shall notify the contributor and the named alternate payee of its receipt of the qualified domestic relations order. 2. A "qualified domestic relations order" for purposes of this section means any judgment, decree, or order, including approval of a property settlement agreement, which relates to the provision of child support, spousal support, or marital property rights to a spouse, former spouse, child, or other dependent of a contributor, is made pursuant to a North Dakota domestic relations law, and which creates or recognizes the existence of an alternate payee's right to, or assigns to an alternate payee the right to, receive all
or a part of the benefits payable to the contributor. A qualified domestic relations order may not require the board to provide any type or form of benefit, or any option, not otherwise provided under the retirement system, or to provide increased benefits as determined on the basis of actuarial value. However, a qualified domestic relations order may require the payment of benefits at the early retirement date notwithstanding that the contributor has not terminated eligible employment. A qualified domestic relations order must specify: a. The name and the last-known mailing address of the contributor and the name and mailing address of each alternate payee covered by the order; b. The amount or percentage of the contributor's benefits to be paid by the plan to each alternate payee; c. The number of payments or period to which the order applies; and d. Each retirement plan to which the order applies.