Sec. 78.

(1) A qualified participant is eligible to receive distribution of his or her accumulated balance in Tier 2 upon becoming a former qualified participant.

(2) Upon the death of a qualified participant or former qualified participant, the accumulated balance of that deceased participant is considered to belong to the refund beneficiary, if any, of that deceased participant. If a valid nomination of refund beneficiary is not on file with the state treasurer, the state treasurer, in a lump sum distribution, shall distribute the accumulated balance to the legal representative, if any, of the deceased participant or, if there is no legal representative, to the deceased participant's estate.

(3) A former qualified participant or refund beneficiary may elect 1 or a combination of several of the following methods of distribution of the accumulated balance:

(a) A lump sum distribution to the recipient.

(b) A lump sum direct rollover to another qualified plan, to the extent allowed by federal law.

(c) Periodic distributions, as authorized by the state treasurer.

(d) No current distribution, in which case the accumulated balance shall remain in Tier 2 until the former qualified participant or refund beneficiary elects a method or methods of distribution under subdivisions (a) to (c), to the extent allowed by federal law.

History: Add. 1996, Act 486, Eff. Mar. 31, 1997 Compiler's Notes: Section 2 of Act 486 of 1996 provides:“Section 2. If any section or part of a section of this act is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the holding does not affect the validity of the remaining sections of this act or the act in its entirety.”