Your former spouse may or may not (depending on the court order) be awarded a portion of your PERA benefits.

No. Since PERA cannot give legal advice, you should contact an attorney. We will, however, work with you and your attorney to develop language in a court order that can be administered by PERA.

No. Payments from PERA may be made only when the member ends his or her public employment, applies for a monthly benefit or refund, and the benefit becomes payable.

If you, as the PERA member, accept monthly payments, your former spouse cannot be paid in a lump sum, but must also accept monthly payments.

No. PERA must have a certified copy of your court order dividing the PERA pension (or a temporary restraining order preventing you from applying for a refund) before we will divide your monthly benefit or refund. This document must be filed with a court administrator's office.

A benefit option, once granted, cannot normally be revoked or changed. If you name your former spouse as your survivor, payments will continue to your former spouse, if living, following your death.

A survivor option pension can be rescinded, but only upon mutual agreement of the former PERA member and the person designated as the survivor.  In the case of a married couple, this requires a marriage dissolution or annulment decree specifying that the chosen survivor option be nullified and the PERA benefit recipient’s pension be recomputed as a single-life pension. Contact PERA for additional information.

A portion of your pension benefits or rights may be granted to your former spouse as a division of marital property, in place of liquid assets (unless the decree makes other provisions). This division is permanent. Thus, upon your former spouse's death, payment continues to your former spouse's estate until your death.

The law allowing PERA to make payments directly to a former spouse was not enacted until mid-1987. Consequently, PERA does not have the authority to make such payments to a former spouse if the divorce decree was filed before August 1, 1987. If your former spouse was granted a portion of your pension in a decree filed prior to that date, an amended decree must be filed with the court allowing PERA to make direct payments. The alternative is that you, as the PERA member, must make payments directly to your former spouse.

Yes. However, the court order must be filed in Minnesota before we can administer the document.

No. Under Minnesota law, the designation of a spouse as beneficiary is revoked upon marriage dissolution. If the divorce decree or other court order requires that your former spouse be designated a beneficiary, a PERA Change Form will have to be filled out to do so. If you do not return the form and die, and no other benefits are payable, we will make payment according to the court order and the remaining balance will be issued to your designated beneficiary(ies).

A certified copy of the decree is a copy of the original decree (stamped by the court and signed by a judge) that is authenticated by a government agency. Certified copies of a divorce decree may be obtained in Minnesota from the county courthouse where the divorce was granted.

No, PERA will not return copies of the divorce decree to you. However:

>>If the PERA benefit is divided between you and your former spouse: You are required to send in a certified copy of the decree. PERA will remove the staple for internal processing and securely store the decree for future access.

>>If you are awarded your entire PERA benefit: You can send in a scan or photocopy of the entire divorce decree – it does not need to be a certified copy. This photocopy will be internally processed and securely stored for future access.