(a) The following words and terms, when used in this section shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
  (1) Proportionate retirement system--A public retirement system other than the Texas County and District Retirement System (TCDRS) that participates in the Proportionate Retirement Program.
  (2) Required distribution date--March 31 of the year following the later of the year in which the member separates from service or the year in which the member attains age 70 and one-half.
  (3) Separates from service--The termination of employment with a subdivision participating in the TCDRS.
(b) General Rules:
  (1) A member who has separated from service with a participating subdivision may receive a refund of the accumulated contributions in the member's individual account with respect to that subdivision at any time after separation from service and before retirement from that subdivision.
  (2) A member must receive a refund of the accumulated contributions in the member's individual accounts or retire from the TCDRS on or before the member's required distribution date.
  (3) The remaining interest of a deceased retiree's benefit must continue to be distributed as rapidly as the method of distribution being used before the retiree's death.
  (4) The entire interest that becomes payable because of the death of a member who has a designated beneficiary as defined in regulations to §401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code must be distributed over the life of the designated beneficiary or over a period not extending beyond the life expectancy of the designated beneficiary. A distribution under this provision after December 31, 1995, must:
    (A) begin not later than the last day of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the member died, if payable to a person other than the decedent's spouse; or
    (B) begin not later than the last day of the calendar year following the year in which the member died or the last day of the calendar year in which the decedent would have attained the age of 70 and one-half, if payable to the surviving spouse, unless the surviving spouse dies before payments begin, in which case the beginning of payments may not be deferred beyond the last day of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the surviving spouse dies.
  (5) The entire interest that becomes payable because of the death of a member who does not have a designated beneficiary must be distributed within five years of the death of the member.
  (6) For a distribution made by the retirement system to which §401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code applies, the system shall apply the minimum distribution requirements of §401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in a manner that complies with a reasonable good faith interpretation of §401(a)(9).
(c) Application:
  (1) A member who is eligible to retire from the TCDRS, with or without combining the member's credited service with a proportionate retirement system, must receive a refund of the accumulated contributions in the member's individual account or retire on or before the member's required distribution date without regard to whether that member is actively participating in a proportionate retirement system.
  (2) A member who is not actively participating in the TCDRS or a proportionate retirement system, and who is not eligible to retire from the TCDRS on the member's required distribution date must receive a refund of the accumulated contributions in the member's individual account on the member's required distribution date.

Source Note: The provisions of this §103.5 adopted to be effective December 31, 1997, 22 TexReg 12538; amended to be effective December 31, 2002, 27 TexReg 12371; amended to be effective October 18, 2007, 32 TexReg 7265; amended to be effective July 21, 2009, 34 TexReg 4739