§8533. Taxation, attachment and assignment of funds.

(a) General rule.--Except as provided in subsections (b), (c) and (d), the right of a person to a member's annuity, a State annuity, or retirement allowance, to the return of contributions, any benefit or right accrued or accruing to any person under the provisions of this part, and the moneys in the fund are hereby exempt from any State or municipal tax, and exempt from levy and sale, garnishment, attachment, or any other process whatsoever, and shall be unassignable.

(b) Forfeiture.--Rights under this part shall be subject to forfeiture as provided by the act of July 8, 1978 (P.L.752, No.140), known as the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act. Forfeitures under this subsection or under any other provision of law may not be applied to increase the benefits that any member would otherwise receive under this part.

(c) Domestic relations order.--Rights under this part shall be subject to attachment in favor of an alternate payee as set forth in an approved domestic relations order.

(d) Direct rollover.--Effective with distributions made on or after January 1, 1993, and notwithstanding any other provision of this part to the contrary, a distributee may elect, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the board, to have any portion of an eligible rollover distribution paid directly to an eligible retirement plan by way of a direct rollover. For purposes of this subsection, a "distributee" includes a member and a member's surviving spouse and a member's former spouse who is an alternate payee under an approved domestic relations order. For purposes of this subsection, the term "eligible rollover distribution" has the meaning given such term by IRC § 402(f)(2)(A) and "eligible retirement plan" has the meaning given such term by IRC § 402(c)(8)(B), except that a qualified trust shall be considered an eligible retirement plan only if it accepts the distributee's eligible rollover distribution; however, in the case of an eligible rollover distribution to a surviving spouse, an eligible retirement plan is an "individual retirement account" or an "individual retirement annuity" as those terms are defined in IRC § 408(a) and (b).

(Oct. 5, 1980, P.L.693, No.142, eff. 60 days; Apr. 29, 1994, P.L.159, No.29; Dec. 20, 1995, P.L.689, No.77, eff. imd.)

Notation

1995 Amendment.  Act 77 amended subsecs. (b) and (d), retroactive as to subsec. (b) to the effective date of the act of July 8, 1978 (P.L.752, No.140), known as the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act.

1994 Amendment.  Act 29 amended the entire section, effective immediately and retroactive to January 1, 1993, as to subsec. (d) and effective 60 days as to the remainder of the section.

Cross References.  Section 8533 is referred to in section 8124 of Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure).