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HomeGovernment CodeDiv. 4Pt. 3Ch. 3Art. 8.4§ 31685 Retirement Benefits Division Orders

§ 31685 Retirement Benefits Division Orders

Government Code·California
AI Summary·Official Text·Key Terms·Related Statutes·References
AI SummaryVerified

§ 31685 Retirement Benefits Division Orders

Key Takeaways

  • •When a married couple splits up, the court must say when they officially separated.
  • •If the court says to split the retirement money, the money earned during the marriage gets divided into two separate accounts—one for each person.
  • •The person who isn’t the original member (like the ex-spouse) can get some rights, like getting a retirement payout or refunding their contributions, but they can’t get disability benefits.
  • •Any retirement money or service time not mentioned in the court order stays with the original member.

Example

John and Jane get divorced. John has been working and saving money in a retirement plan during their marriage.

The court will decide how much of John’s retirement savings Jane gets. That amount will be split into a separate account for Jane. If the court doesn’t mention some of John’s retirement money, it stays with him. Jane can later get her share as a refund or retirement payout, but she can’t get disability benefits from it.

AI-generated — May contain errors. Not legal advice. Always verify source.

Official Source
View on CA.gov

§ 31685 Retirement Benefits Division Orders

(a) Upon the legal separation or dissolution of marriage of a member, after joining the retirement system as a party to the proceeding pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 2060) of Part 1 of Division 6 of the Family Code, the court shall include in the judgment or a court order the date on which the parties separated. (b) If the court orders the division of the community property interest in the system pursuant to Section 2610 of the Family Code, the accumulated contributions and service credit attributable to periods of service during the marriage shall be divided into two separate and distinct accounts in the name of the member and nonmember, respectively. Any service credit or accumulated contributions that are not explicitly awarded by the judgment or court order shall be deemed the exclusive property of the member. (c) Upon receipt of the court order separating the account of the member and the nonmember pursuant to this section, the board shall determine the rights of the nonmember, taking into consideration the court order and the account of the member. These rights may include the following: (1) The right to a retirement allowance. (2) The right to a refund of accumulated retirement contributions. (3) The right to redeposit accumulated contributions that are eligible for redeposit by the member. (4) The right to purchase service credit that is eligible for purchase by the member. (5) The right to designate a beneficiary to receive his or her accumulated contributions payable where death occurs prior to retirement. (6) The right to designate a beneficiary for any unpaid allowance payable at the time of the nonmember’s death. (d) In the capacity of nonmember, the nonmember shall not be entitled to any disability retirement allowance. (Added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 670, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1995.)

Last verified: January 22, 2026

Key Terms

retirementallowancejudgmentdisabilityseparationconsiderationdissolutionmarried

Related Statutes

  • § 75050 Retirement Account Division Orders
  • § 31764.6 Spousal Survivor Benefit Election
  • § 31781.1 Surviving Spouse Optional Death Allowance
  • § 22960.75 Retirement Account Division Rules
  • § 31685.2 Nonmember Refund Rights Waiver

References

  • Official text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
  • California Legislature. Government Code. Section 31685.
View Official Source