Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO)
In family law, a QDRO relates to a specific order entered by the Court that creates or recognizes a right of a person (usually the former spouse), sometimes called the Alternate Payee, to receive all or a portion of the benefits payable to a participant of a pension, retirement, 401k, or other employee-benefit plan. The order must (a) be in the form of a judgment, decree, or order, (b) relate to the provision of child support, alimony payments, or marital property rights, (c) and is made pursuant to a state domestic relations law.
Different employers have different types of
employee-benefit plans. Not all orders required to
"split-up" an employee benefit plan is called a
QDRO. Most commonly, a QDRO
is used to distribute or assign rights to a plan
established or administered under an ERISA-qualified
pension plan. ERISA stands for the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act, under which
authority the federal government regulates private
pension plans. Virtually every private employee
benefit plan in the United States today is an
ERISA-qualified plan.
The federal government, military, IRAs, state and local pension plans, Railroad Retirement Board, and other non-ERISA qualified plans all have different requirements.
At the Law offices of Dulce B. Fazel P. A., a Jacksonville Florida Divorce Attorney; we are well-versed in all types of QDROs and other plan requirements, and are ready to advise you of all factors required to divide retirement plans in order to process and implement the necessary order in your case.