(A) An unforeseeable emergency means a severe financial hardship to the participant resulting from:
(1) A sudden and unexpected illness or accident of the participant;
(2) A sudden and unexpected illness or accident of a dependent (as defined by I.R.C. § 152(a)) of the participant;
(3) Loss of the participant’s property due to casualty; or
(4) Other similar and extraordinary unforeseeable circumstances arising as a result of events beyond the control of the participant.
(B) A need to send the participant’s child to college or a desire to purchase a home is not an unforeseeable emergency.
(C) A participant’s (or his or her dependent’s) circumstances is not an unforeseeable emergency and a hardship distribution shall not be paid to the extent that the financial hardship is or may be relieved:
(1) Through reimbursement or compensation by insurance or otherwise;
(2) By borrowing from commercial sources on reasonable commercial terms to the extent that this borrowing would not itself cause a severe financial hardship;
(3) By cessation of deferrals under the plan; or
(4) By liquidation of the participant’s other assets (including assets of the participant’s spouse and minor children that are reasonably available to the participant) to the extent that this liquidation would not itself cause severe financial hardship.
(D) For the purposes of subsection (C)(3)(4) above, the participant’s resources shall be deemed to include those assets of his or her spouse and minor children that are reasonably available to the participant; however, property held for the participant’s child under an irrevocable trust or under a Uniform Gifts to Minors Act custodianship or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act custodianship shall not be treated as a resource of the participant.
(Ord. NIRC 97-1, passed 1-15-1997)