QDRO Helper Blog
Our blog has information about a wide variety of QDRO-related topics. If you have any questions that are not addressed in our Blog or FAQ, call 619-786-7376 to speak with a friendly California QDRO attorney.
TOP 3 QDRO MISTAKES & HOW TO AVOID THEM
QDRO MISTAKE 1: WRONG METHOD OF DIVISION FOR RETIREMENT PLAN TYPE The language in the settlement agreement and QDRO should be applicable to the type of retirement benefits being divided. There are two main types of retirement plans, namely 1) Defined Contribution...
Joinder of Employee Benefit Plan
What is a Joinder of Employee Benefit Plan? "Joinder" is a legal process that names a third-party claimant to a divorce case and notifies the retirement plan that a former spouse has a right to a portion of an employee’s benefits. A joinder is completed by filing...
QDROs & the Effect of the Supreme Court Decision on DOMA
Prior to the 2013 Supreme Court decision ruling Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional (United States v. Windsor), the majority of retirement plans would not accept Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) for same-sex spouses during...
Cash Balance Plan QDROs
Some employers offer a type of retirement plan known as a “cash balance plan” or “cash balance pension plan.” Cash balance plans, like any other assets accrued during marriage, are community property and are subject to division pursuant to divorce in California. We...
Additional QDRO Benefits: Taxes, Liquidity, and Bankruptcy, Creditor & Tax Lien Protection
TYPICAL REASON FOR HAVING A QDRO The most common reason for parties to have a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is to divide retirement benefits due to divorce or legal separation. Most retirement plans require a QDRO, or similar court order, before benefits...
SCERS DROs: Dividing Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System Benefits in Divorce
SCERS & DIVORCE – WHAT IS A DRO? Employees of Sacramento County are members of the Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System (SCERS). SCERS benefits take the form of a defined benefit plan, which means that the benefits paid to retired members are based upon...
QDROs & Loans: How Loans on Retirement Accounts Affect Divorce
RETIREMENT PLAN LOANS & DIVORCE Participants in defined contribution retirement plans often have the option of taking out loans. These loans are usually paid back via paycheck deductions over a period of years and these loans usually cannot be assigned to any...
SBCERA DROs: Dividing San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association Benefits in Divorce
SBCERA & DIVORCE – WHAT IS A DRO? Employees of San Bernardino County are members of the San Bernardino Employees’ Retirement Association (SBCERA). SBCERA is a public agency created to administer retirement benefits. These retirement benefits take the form of a...
Valuation Dates for QDROS: A Common Mistake in Marital Settlement Agreements
WHAT IS A "VALUATION DATE" FOR QDRO PURPOSES? A QDRO (Qualified Domestic Relations Order) is a court order that divides retirement benefits due to divorce. The valuation date for QDRO purposes is the date as of which the funds are to be divided. For example, in a...
Waiver QDRO: Do I Need a QDRO if my Spouse Waives all Retirement Benefits?
WHAT IS A WAIVER? WHAT IS A QDRO? Sometimes during divorce, the parties will agree that one spouse will forever waive his/her interest in the other spouse’s retirement plan. Often this is done as part of an equalization of property, other times the parties simply...
KCERA DROs: Dividing Kern County Employees’ Retirement Association Benefits in Divorce
KCERA & DIVORCE – GENERAL INFORMATION Membership in the Kern County Employees’ Retirement Association (KCERA) is automatic for any employee who is appointed to a permanent position that meets certain hourly requirements. Membership in KCERA begins on the first...
What is the Brown Rule? What is the Time Rule Formula?
Background on the Brown Rule & the Time Rule Formula A California court case from 1976 established that non-vested retirement benefits were community property, subject to division upon dissolution of marriage. This case was In Re Marriage of Brown (1976) 15 Cal....
VCERA DROs: Dividing Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association Benefits in Divorce
VCERA & DIVORCE – GENERAL INFORMATION Employees of Ventura County are members of the Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association (VCERA). Like other money or assets acquired during marriage, VCERA benefits are subject to division during divorce. The...
San Luis Obispo County Pension Trust & Divorce
Every permanent employee of San Luis Obispo County is required to become a member of the San Luis Obispo County Pension Trust. Each member contributes a percentage of his/her salary to the Pension Trust; members can also make voluntary contributions. The employer...
Gillmore Rights and Your California QDRO
WHAT ARE GILLMORE RIGHTS? Often an employee wants to continue working past her earliest retirement age. If the employee is divorced and her former spouse wants to start receiving benefit payments based on his community interest in the retirement plan, Gillmore rights...
LACERS Benefits & Divorce: Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System
If a member earns Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) benefits during marriage, those benefits are community property and are subject to division due to divorce, legal separation, or dissolution of a registered domestic partnership. JOINDER...
Dividing IRAs in Divorce: Do You Need a QDRO?
What is an IRA? IRAs are Individual Retirement Accounts which are governed by Internal Revenue Code §408. Usually the account owner is the person in control of the IRA, and the account owner is considered the "plan administrator." The most common type of IRA is the...
LACERA & Divorce: Dividing Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association Benefits
Permanent employees of Los Angeles County or outside Districts who work three-quarter time or more are members of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA). Any LACERA pension benefits that are accumulated during marriage are subject to...
ICERS DROs: Dividing Imperial County Employees’ Retirement System Benefits During Divorce
ICERS & DIVORCE – GENERAL INFORMATION Employees of Imperial County are members of the Imperial County Employees’ Retirement System (ICERS). The retirement system is not a department of Imperial County government; instead it is a separate legal entity managed by...
Nunc Pro Tunc QDROs & Posthumous QDROs
We have already written a post about when a QDRO should ideally be completed and filed, but things do not always happen in an ideal way. Sometimes clients contact QDRO Helper more than a decade after their divorce was finalized. We even occasionally get contacted by...
What if my former spouse won’t sign the QDRO?
Often clients are concerned that once a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (or QDRO) is prepared, their former spouse will refuse to sign the QDRO. Generally, both parties’ signatures are required in order to file the QDRO at court. CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS FOR QDROs If...
QDRO Tax Issues
There are various taxation issues to consider before obtaining a QDRO to divide retirement benefits pursuant to a marital dissolution or divorce. TYPICAL QDRO TAXATION Generally, under a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), an employee benefit plan or retirement...
Military Retirement & Divorce: Death & Survivor Benefits
SURVIVOR'S BENEFIT PLAN (SBP) One of the most often misunderstood aspects of military divorce is what survivor benefits are available to a former spouse under military retirement. In the broadest terms, without a Survivor’s Benefit Plan (SBP) in place that provides...
SDCERS & Divorce: DROs for the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System
SDCERS OVERVIEW Employees of the City of San Diego, San Diego Unified Port District, and San Diego County Regional Airport Authority participate in SDCERS, and are “members” of the retirement system. SDCERS is a defined benefit plan which provides for a monthly...
OCERS QDROs: Orange County Employees Retirement System Benefits & Divorce
BASIC PLAN INFORMATION Employees of Orange County earn retirement benefits under the Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS). Both employers and employees (or “members”) make contributions to OCERS. Upon retirement, OCERS provides a monthly benefit that is...
QDROs for Traditional Pension Plans / Defined Benefit Plans
Defined Benefit Plans are retirement plans which provide participants with a fixed payment on a regular basis (usually monthly) after retirement. Defined Benefit plans are often thought of as traditional pension plans; these plans have become less common and are now...
DROs for City of San Diego 401k, Deferred Compensation, & Supplemental Pension Savings Plans
City of San Diego Retirement Plans In addition to SDCERS, employees of the City of San Diego may participate in the following retirement plans: City of San Diego 401(k) City of San Diego Supplemental Pension Savings Plan (also known as the “SPSP”) City of San Diego...
CalPERS & Divorce: What You Need to Know about DROs
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) provides benefits to more than 1.6 million people. If you or your former spouse is a CalPERS member, you should be aware of how CalPERS benefits can be divided due to divorce or legal separation. CalPERS...
QDROs for the UCRP (University of California Retirement Plan)
Employees of the University of California are participants in the University of California Retirement System (UCRS). The UCRS offers a defined benefit pension plan known as the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP). For certain UCRP participants, the CAP...
SDCERA & Divorce: SDCERA DROs Explained
The San Diego County Employees Retirement Association (SDCERA) has very specific guidelines regarding how to divide SDCERA benefits during divorce, pursuant to a Domestic Relations Order (DRO). Generally, a member’s spouse will have a community property interest in...
Article Published at ScoopSanDiego.com: How Divorce Affects Retirement Benefits
Visit ScoopSanDiego.com to read about how divorce affects retirement benefits in this article written by Madeline L. Hill, Esq., owner of QDRO Helper.
Divorce and Your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
Many federal employees and members of the uniformed services participate in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). This is an asset that is subject to division during divorce, and the contributions made during the time of the marriage are considered community property in...
Dividing FERS / CSRS Benefits in Divorce or Legal Separation
This article addresses the options for dividing a member’s Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) benefits in the event of divorce. FERS covers federal employees hired after 1983; those hired prior to 1983 are covered by...
CalSTRS QDROs: Methods of Division, Registered Domestic Partners, Joinders & Death Benefits
We will be writing a series of blogs on specific retirement plans and their unique provisions. We are starting with the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, more commonly known as CalSTRS or STRS. For this article the terms “Stipulation and Order Regarding...
QDROS for 401(k), 403(b) and 457 Plans
The two most common types of retirement plans are defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. Defined contribution plans have an account balance, such as 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans. Defined benefit plans are commonly known as pension plans and pay a...
Get Your Free QDRO Guide Today
The United States Department of Labor has published a guide called “QDROs: The Division of Retirement Benefits Through Qualified Domestic Relations Orders”. You can view the guide here. It answers basic Qualified Domestic Relations Order questions, such as: What is...
QDROs for Child Support and Spousal Support
The most common use of a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is for the division of marital property. However, QDROs can also be used for child support and spousal support, and to collect arrears for these types of support. Retirement funds for support...
When Should I File My QDRO?
We draft some QDROs for clients still in the divorce process, some for clients who have been divorced for over twenty years, and the majority for clients within two years of their divorce being finalized. When is the best time to file a QDRO? Ideally, a qualified...
Dividing Military Retirement – The 20/10/10 Rule
The Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act (USFSPA) combined with state law allows California courts to distribute military retirement benefits to former spouses and provides a method for enforcement of these orders through Defense Finance and Accounting...