Los Angeles County Municipal Code Part VI Exemption from Process; Assignments Prohibited

No benefit payable from the Plan to any Participant or Eligible Survivor or any other person shall be subject in any manner to anticipation, alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance, or charge, and any attempt to anticipate, alienate, sell, transfer, assign, pledge, encumber, or charge the same shall be void. No such benefit shall in any manner be liable for, or subject to, the debts, contracts, liabilities, engagements, or torts of any such person, nor shall it be subject to execution, attachment or any process whatsoever for or against such person, except to such extent as may be permitted by Section 704.110 of the Code of Civil Procedure or as required by law. Any attachment or process applied to Retirement Plan benefits in accordance with law shall not automatically apply to benefits under this Plan, but must, expressly by its terms, be made applicable to the Plan.

(Ord. 2010-0048 § 1, 2010)

The provisions of Section 5.95.220 will not apply in the case of any property settlements upon marital dissolution or legal separation which are made in accordance with a "qualified" domestic relations order (DRO) issued in accordance with state domestic relations law. The provisions of Section 5.95.220 will apply in the case of any property settlement upon marital dissolution or legal separation which is made in accordance with a domestic relations order that is not qualified in accordance with this Section. For purposes of this Section, "DRO" or "domestic relations order" means any judgment, decree, or order made in accordance with state domestic relations law which relates to the provision of child support, spousal maintenance, or marital property rights of any spouse, former spouse, child, or other dependent of a Participant. A domestic relations order shall not be considered a qualified DRO with respect to this Plan if it: (a) requires the Plan to provide any type or form of benefit, or any option, not otherwise provided under the Plan; (b) requires the Plan to provide increased benefits; or (c) otherwise requires the payment or funding of benefits in an amount or manner otherwise inconsistent with the terms of the Plan. In addition, in order for a DRO to be recognized as "qualified," the parties seeking to enforce the DRO must have properly notified and joined the Plan under applicable state law.

Consistent with Treasury Regulation Section 1.401(a)-13(g)(4)(iv), under which the total benefits payable to both the Participant and alternate payee from the Retirement Plan are considered benefits of the Participant for the purposes of applying the limitations of IRC section 415, the total benefit payable to the alternate payee and the Participant under this Plan shall not exceed the total benefit that otherwise would be payable to the Participant alone as determined under Part 4.

The Plan Administrator shall establish administrative policies and procedures consistent with this Section for determining whether any judgment, order, or decree constitutes a qualified DRO.

(Ord. 2010-0048 § 1, 2010)