Division Not Required by TRS
Please be aware that TRS does not require division of TRS benefits in a divorce or otherwise. It is the court that orders the community property division according to the laws of the state of Texas.
In some cases, the parties may prefer not to divide the TRS benefits (for example, if both parties have retirement plans of comparable value or if the TRS participant "gives up" some other asset of similar worth to be able to keep the entire amount of the TRS benefits).
TRS suggests that you discuss property division alternatives with your attorney. If TRS benefits are not divided, the decree of divorce should specifically state that all TRS benefits are awarded to the TRS participant.
Usually, it will not be necessary to send a copy of the decree to TRS if benefits are not divided. However, if the spouse of the participant previously contacted TRS to make a claim to part of the participant’s benefits while the divorce proceedings were pending, please send TRS a copy of the decree, or both parties should inform TRS in writing of the final award of the benefits made by the court.
If a temporary restraining order (TRO) that prevented the participant from making any elections regarding TRS benefits, please provide documentation to TRS as soon as possible indicating that the divorce proceeding is final and the TRO is no longer in effect.
Division of TRS Retirement Plan Benefits
If the court divides the TRS retirement plan benefits and the parties want TRS to pay the alternate payee directly, the division must be one that TRS can administer and that is compatible with the TRS plan.
Because many courts and attorneys are not familiar with the TRS plan, it can be difficult to prepare orders that TRS can administer when it becomes time to issue benefits payments. Therefore, TRS requires the parties to use of a model domestic relations order (DRO). For DROs entered by a court on or after January 1, 2015, the parties are required to use the TRS model order in their divorce proceedings. TRS has prepared two fillable, model DROs that TRS finds acceptable and administrable. There is a model order for active employees and a different model order for retirees.
TRS’ intent in requiring the model order is to provide the courts with an order TRS is able to administer. It is not the intent of TRS to encourage or require the division of TRS retirement plan benefits.