Sec. 804.004.  LIFE ANNUITY OR LUMP-SUM PAYMENT IN LIEU OF BENEFITS AWARDED BY A QUALIFIED DOMESTIC RELATIONS ORDER.  (a)  The board of trustees of a public retirement system to which this chapter applies may by rule provide that, in lieu of paying an alternate beneficiary the interest awarded by a qualified domestic relations order, the system may pay the alternate beneficiary an amount that is the actuarial equivalent of such interest in the form of:
(1)  an annuity payable in equal monthly installments for the life of the alternate payee;  or
(2)  a lump sum.
(b)  The determination of whether to pay an amount authorized by this section in lieu of the interest awarded by the qualified domestic relations order shall be at the sole discretion of the public retirement system.
(c)  If a public retirement system elects to pay the alternate payee pursuant to this section, the benefit payable by the system to the member, retiree, or beneficiary shall be reduced by the interest in the benefit awarded to the alternate payee by the qualified domestic relations order.
(d)  If the public retirement system pays the alternate payee pursuant to this section, the retirement system shall be entitled to rely on a beneficiary designation or benefit option selection made or changed pursuant to its plan without regard to any domestic relations order.
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 16, Sec. 11.02(a), eff. Aug. 26, 1991.