West Virginia Code 5-10B-10 – Deferred compensation plan funds held in trust
(a) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, as of January 1, 1998, all assets and income of all deferred compensation plans created or administered pursuant to this article shall be held in trust for the exclusive benefit of participants and their beneficiaries.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 5-10B-10
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Deferred compensation: means the income and earnings on that income an employee may legally defer for personal income tax purposes pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code until distribution. See West Virginia Code 5-10B-2
- 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.
- plan: means a trust whereby the state employer or a public employer agrees with an employee for the voluntary reduction in employee compensation for the payment of benefits by the state employer or the public employer to the employee at a later date pursuant to this article and the federal laws and regulations relating to eligible state deferred compensation plans as described in Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code. See West Virginia Code 5-10B-2
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- State employer: means the State of West Virginia, which includes every state board, commission, agency and instrumentality. See West Virginia Code 5-10B-2
- Treasurer: means the state Treasurer. See West Virginia Code 5-10B-2
- trust: means the fund in which deferred amounts and investment income of participating employees are held. See West Virginia Code 5-10B-2
(b) The West Virginia Deferred Compensation Trust Fund is created within the accounts held by the Treasurer or with one or more financial institutions, vendors or any other entities selected by the Treasurer for the purpose of managing and investing the trust. A public employer managing a trust shall create a trust fund and select one or more financial institutions, vendors or other entities to hold the trust.
(c) The corpus, assets and earnings of the trust do not constitute public funds of the state or public employer and are available solely for carrying out the purposes of this article. Any contract entered into by or any obligation of the state employer or a public employer in connection with a plan does not create or constitute a debt, but is solely an obligation of the trust.