(a) A vested member who is currently married may not designate a primary beneficiary other than the member's spouse or select a form of payment of a retirement or survivor annuity other than a joint-and-survivor annuity that pays benefits to the member's spouse on the death of the member, unless the member's spouse consents to the designation or selection.
(b) The consent of a spouse required by subsection (a) of this section must be in writing and acknowledged before a notary public.
(c) The consent required by subsection (a) of this section is not required if it is established to the satisfaction of the director, or the director's designee, that:
  (1) there is no spouse;
  (2) the spouse cannot be located;
  (3) the spouse has been judicially declared incompetent in which case the consent may be given by the guardian or other ad litem;
  (4) a duly licensed physician has determined that the spouse is not mentally capable of managing his or her own affairs, in which case the consent may be given by the member provided the member would not be disqualified to serve as guardian of the incapacitated spouse and the director, or the director's designee, is satisfied that a guardianship of the estate is not necessary; or
  (5) the spouse and the member have been married for less than one year as of the date the annuity first becomes payable.
(d) The consent required by subsection (a) of this section is also not required with respect to any portion of a member's retirement benefit that has been awarded to a former spouse(s) under a qualified domestic relations order(s), but the consent requirement does apply to the remaining portion of the member's retirement benefit.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term "joint-and-survivor annuity that pays benefits to the member's spouse on the death of the member" means a retirement annuity for the life of the member with a survivor annuity for the life of the spouse which is not less than 50% of the amount of the annuity which is payable during the joint lives of the member and the spouse, or, if the member dies before retirement, a survivor annuity for the life of the spouse which is not less than the actuarial equivalent of an annuity described by §854.104(c)(1) of the Act when the member has died before retirement.
(f) A member eligible for retirement must certify his or her current marital status on any retirement application, or any other application for benefits on which the system requires the member to provide marital status information, filed with the system. The system and employees of the system may rely on any such certification and shall not be liable to any person for making payment of any benefits in accordance with such certification, regardless of whether the certification is later shown to have been false on the date of execution.

Source Note: The provisions of this §123.7 adopted to be effective November 19, 2020, 45 TexReg 8171