The plan, as duly amended from time to time, shall be binding
on each account participant and his or her surviving spouse, heirs,
administrators, trustees, successors, assigns, and beneficiaries and
all other interested persons.
Nothing contained herein shall give any individual the right
to be retained in the employment of the employer or affect the right
of the employer to terminate any individual's employment. The adoption
and maintenance of the plan shall not constitute a contract between
the employer and any individual or consideration for, or an inducement
to or condition of, the employment of any individual.
If the administrative service agency shall find that any person
to whom any amount is payable under the plan is unable to care for
his or her affairs, is a minor, or has died, then any payment due
to such person or his or her estate (unless a prior claim therefor
has been made by a beneficiary, surviving spouse or duly appointed
legal representative or the time period during which a beneficiary
or surviving spouse could make a claim under the plan has not elapsed)
may, if the administrative service agency so elects, be paid to his
or her spouse, a child, a relative, or any other person maintaining
or having custody of such person otherwise entitled to payment or
deemed by the Trustee to be a proper recipient on behalf of such person.
Any such payment shall be a complete discharge of all liability under
the plan therefor.
Except insofar as may otherwise be required by a qualified domestic
relations order or applicable law, no amount payable at any time under
the plan shall be subject in any manner to alienation by anticipation,
sale, transfer, assignment, bankruptcy, pledge, attachment, garnishment,
charge or encumbrance of any kind, and any attempt to so alienate
such amount, whether presently or thereafter payable, shall be void.
All elections, designations, requests, notices, instructions,
and other communications from the employer, an employee, an account
participant, or any other person to the Committee, administrative
service agency or the employer required or permitted under the plan
shall be in such form as is prescribed by the Committee, shall be
mailed by first class mail or delivered electronically in such a form
and to such location as shall be prescribed by the Committee from
time to time, and shall be deemed to have been given and delivered
only upon actual receipt thereof at such location. Copies of all elections,
designations, requests, notices, instructions and other communications
from an employee, a participant, a beneficiary, a surviving spouse
or any other person to the employer shall be promptly filed with the
administrative service agency in such a manner specified by the administrative
service agency.
All notices, statements, reports and other communications from
an employer, the Trustee or the Committee to any account participant
shall be deemed to have been duly given when delivered to, or when
mailed by electronic delivery or other form of delivery approved by
the Committee or by first class mail, postage prepaid, and addressed
to such employee, account participant, beneficiary, surviving spouse
or other person at his or her address last appearing on the records
of the administrative service agency, the Trustee or the employer.
The Trust Fund shall be the sole source of benefits under the
plan and, except as otherwise required by applicable law, neither
the Committee, the employer nor any officer or employee of an employer
assumes any liability or responsibility for payment of such benefits,
and each account participant, his or her spouse or beneficiary, or
other person who shall claim the right to any payment under the plan
shall be entitled to look only to the Trust Fund for such payment
and shall not have any right, claim or demand therefor against the
Committee or any member thereof, the employer, or any officer or employee
of an employer. Nothing in this § 50-13.7 shall relieve
an employer of its obligation to defer or contribute amounts deferred
or contributed to the Trust Fund within two business days after the
applicable payroll date, in the manner contemplated by § 50-4.1.
A. Account assets held in Trust Fund. The entire value of each account
for each account participant shall be held in the Trust Fund pursuant
to the trust agreement for the exclusive benefit of the applicable
account participant and for paying reasonable expenses of the plan
and of the Trust Fund pursuant to § 50-11.7 and no part
of the Trust Fund shall revert to any employer; provided, however,
that the setting-aside of any amounts to be held in the Trust Fund
is expressly conditioned upon the following: If an amount is set aside
to be held in the Trust Fund by an employer in a manner which is inconsistent
with any of the requirements of Section 457(b) of the Code, such amount
shall be returned to such employer prior to the first day of the first
plan year commencing more than 180 days after the date of notification
of such inconsistency by the Secretary of the Treasury. Any amounts
so returned to the employer, and the earnings thereon, shall be remitted
to the participants on whose behalf such amounts were set aside.
B. Vesting. Each account participant shall be 100% vested at all times
in his or her plan benefit.
The duties and responsibilities allocated to each person under
the plan and the trust agreement shall be the several and not joint
responsibility of each, and no such person shall be liable for the
act or omission of any other person.
A. The term "including" means by way of example and not by way of limitation;
and
B. The headings preceding the sections hereof have been inserted solely
as a matter of convenience and in no way define or limit the scope
or intent of any provisions hereof.
The plan and all rights thereunder shall be governed by and
construed in accordance with the Code and the laws of the state.