# Title 82 — Board of Trustees of the Teachers' Fund for Retirement

## Article 82-05 — Retirement Benefits

## Chapter 82-05-02 — Forms of Benefit Payments

### § 82-05-02-01. Standard form of benefit payments.

The standard form of benefit payments under article 82-05 is an annuity payable for the life of the
teacher with no survivor annuity.
History: Effective September 1, 1990.
General Authority: NDCC 15-39.1-07
Law Implemented: NDCC 15-39.1-10
### § 82-05-02-02. Optional forms of benefit payments.

1. A teacher may elect to receive benefits under article 82-05 in any one of the following forms:
a. A one hundred percent joint and survivor annuity.
b. A fifty percent joint and survivor annuity.
c. An annuity payable to the teacher or the teacher's designated beneficiary for the life of
the teacher or two hundred forty months, whichever is longer.
d. An annuity payable to the teacher or the teacher's designated beneficiary for the life of
the teacher or one hundred twenty months, whichever is longer.
2. A married member's spouse, if designated as beneficiary, must consent in writing to the form
of payment option elected by the member at retirement. If spousal consent is not obtained, the
form of benefit payment option will be the fifty percent joint and survivor option.
3. Benefits under the optional forms of payment must be determined on an actuarially equivalent
basis. The teacher's choice of benefit under this section is irrevocable once the teacher has
begun receiving benefits except under the following circumstances:
a. Under the single life, five-year term certain and life (option no longer available to new
retirees), twenty-year term certain and life, and ten-year term certain and life annuity
options, if a retired teacher marries, that teacher may change that teacher's beneficiary
under section 82-05-01-03 and form of benefit payment to a joint and survivor option.
b. Under the one hundred percent joint and survivor and fifty percent joint and survivor
annuity options, if a retired teacher's designated beneficiary precedes the teacher in
death, or if the marriage of a teacher and the designated beneficiary is dissolved and the
divorce decree provides for sole retention of the retirement benefits by the teacher, the
form of benefits shall automatically revert to the standard form of benefit payment under
section 82-05-02-01 and a new beneficiary may be designated under section
### § 82-05-01-03. The teacher, upon remarriage, may designate the new spouse as the

primary beneficiary and may elect a joint and survivor option.

4. The teacher must provide proof of the teacher's good health before the board can permit a
change in the designated beneficiary under the joint and survivor options. A medical
examination conducted by a licensed medical doctor is required.
5. The teacher is required to provide proof of age for the new beneficiary. The board must adjust
the monthly retirement benefit to the actuarially equivalent amount based on the new
designated beneficiary's age.
History: Effective September 1, 1990; amended effective April 1, 1994; May 1, 2000; May 1, 2002;
May 1, 2004.
General Authority: NDCC 15-39.1-07
Law Implemented: NDCC 15-39.1-16
### § 82-05-02-03. Level income option.

Repealed effective April 1, 2024.
### § 82-05-02-04. Retroactive retirement eligibility.

Upon application, a teacher is entitled to receive benefits retroactive to the date of initial eligibility in
accordance with the benefit option selected. Teachers may not collect interest on retroactive back
benefits.
History: Effective September 1, 1990; amended effective April 1, 1994.
General Authority: NDCC 15-39.1-07
Law Implemented: NDCC 15-39.1-10, 15-39.1-16
### § 82-05-02-05. Partial lump sum distribution option.

A member who is eligible for an unreduced service retirement annuity may receive a portion of the
retirement annuity paid in a lump sum distribution as provided in North Dakota Century Code section
15-39.1-16. The lump sum distribution may be paid in a direct rollover as outlined in North Dakota
Century Code section 15-39.1-20.
History: Effective May 1, 2004.
General Authority: NDCC 15-39.1-07
Law Implemented: NDCC 15-39.1-16
