                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ANNUITY CONTRACT PURCHASED TO FUND RETIREMENT BENEFITS; PROTECTION FROM
CREDITOR&#8217;S CLAIMS (§ 38.2-3122.1)

A. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Employer&#8221; means a person doing business in or operating within
the Commonwealth who employs another to work for wages or a salary or on
commission and includes any similar entity acting directly or indirectly in the
interest of an employer in relation to an employee. &#8220;Employer&#8221; does
not include the Commonwealth or any of its agencies, institutions, or political
subdivisions or any public body.
			&#8220;ERISA&#8221; means the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974 (P.L. 93-406, 88 Stat. 829), as amended.
			&#8220;Pension plan&#8221; has the same meaning ascribed to that term in
&#xA7; 3(2) of ERISA.

B. Any interest in or amounts payable to a participant or beneficiary from any
allocated or unallocated group annuity contract issued or issued for delivery in
the Commonwealth to an employer or a pension plan for the purpose of providing
retirement benefits to employees or retirees of the employer under a defined
benefit plan, which retirement benefits were protected under ERISA or the
Federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation prior to the effective date of the
group annuity contract and will not be protected under ERISA or the Federal
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on and after the effective date of the
group annuity contract, shall be exempt from the claims of all creditors of such
participant or beneficiary.

C. The exemption from the claims of creditors provided under subsection B shall
not apply to claims arising under a qualified domestic relations order.

D. The exemption from the claims of creditors provided under subsection B shall
not apply to any claim by a creditor with respect to an annuity contract that
was taken out, made, or assigned in writing for the benefit of the creditor.

E. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B and subject to the applicable
statute of limitations, the amount of any premiums or other amounts paid for the
related annuity contract that were paid with the intent to defraud creditors,
with the interest thereon, shall inure to the benefit of the creditors from the
proceeds of the policy, contract, or deposit.

F. The exemption provided by this section shall not apply to any protected
annuity contract issued or effected during the six months preceding the date
that the person claiming the exemption (i) files a voluntary petition in
bankruptcy; (ii) becomes the subject of an order for relief or is declared
insolvent in any federal or state bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding; or (iii)
files a petition or answer seeking for himself any reorganization, arrangement,
composition, readjustment, liquidation, dissolution, or similar relief under any
statute, law, or regulation.

HISTORY: 2018, c. 847.