Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 19 > Chapter 20 > Part 3 - Membership

• account balance: means the sum of all the amounts deducted from the compensation of a member or paid by a member and credited to the member's individual account in the annuity savings account, together with interest, minus any amount deducted for correction of errors and the aggregate amount of all retirement benefit payments and refunds of accumulated contributions paid to or on behalf of the member. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Beneficiary designation: means the process that the retirement system prescribes pursuant to this chapter by which a person authorized by law designates one or more beneficiaries. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• Benefit recipient: means a retired member, a joint annuitant, or a beneficiary who is receiving a retirement allowance. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• board: means the retirement system's governing board provided for in 2-15-1010. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Employer: means :

  (a)the state of Montana;

  (b)a public school district, as provided in 20-6-101 and 20-6-701;

  (c)the office of public instruction;

  (d)the board of public education;

  (e)an education cooperative;

  (f)the Montana school for the deaf and blind, as described in 20-8-101;

  (g)the Montana youth challenge program, as defined in 10-1-101;

  (h)a correctional facility, as defined in 41-5-103;

  (i)the Montana university system;

  (j)a community college; or

  (k)any other agency, political subdivision, or instrumentality of the state that employs a person who is designated a member of the retirement system pursuant to 19-20-302. See Montana Code 19-20-101

• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Individual: means a human being. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• Joint annuitant: means the one person that a retired member who has elected an optional allowance under 19-20-702(2), (4), or (5) has designated to receive a retirement allowance upon the death of the retired member. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Member: means a person who has an individual account in the annuity savings account. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Position reportable to the retirement system: means a position in which an individual performs duties that would entitle the person to active membership in the retirement system under the provisions of 19-20-302. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• retiree: means a person who is considered in retired member status under the provisions of 19-20-810. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• retirement benefit: means a monthly payment due to a retired member who has qualified for service or disability retirement or due to a joint annuitant or beneficiary. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• Service: means the performance of duties that would entitle the person to active membership in the retirement system under the provisions of 19-20-302. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• terminate: means that the employment relationship between the member and the member's employer has been terminated as required in 19-20-810. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• Vested: means that a member has been credited with at least 5 full years of membership service upon which contributions have been made and has a right to a future retirement benefit. See Montana Code 19-20-101
• written election: means a written instrument, required by statute or the rules of the board, properly signed and filed with the board, that contains all the required information, including documentation that the board considers necessary. See Montana Code 19-20-101