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Attorneys send you the divorce decree, etc.


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12 minutes ago, jpod said:

MoJo is right that you need to go back and look at the divorce papers.  I don't know what MoJo was thinking, but the ex-wife may have an obligation to pay the ex-husband money equal to a share of her pension now that she is actually receiving it. 

In a non-qualified plan, sure.  But in a qualified plan?  

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Two reasons you might see that:  (1) the attorneys didn't know what they were doing; or (2) the goal was that the wife would be liable for all the taxes.

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1 hour ago, jpod said:

MoJo is right that you need to go back and look at the divorce papers.  I don't know what MoJo was thinking, but the ex-wife may have an obligation to pay the ex-husband money equal to a share of her pension now that she is actually receiving it. 

I was thinking that the OP needs to understand the separation agreement/divorce decree - as that defines the OBLIGATION with respect to the parties to split (or not) retirement plan assets.  A QDRO is the vehicle through which the appropriate provision of the separation agreement/divorce decree is enforced against the plan.

Absent a QDRO, the divorce decree is still enforceable between the parties - just not the plan.  The DRO is a tool to actually put that provision in effect directly with the plan.

And yes, I've seen divorce decrees that enforce a provision on the participant to pay over a certain sum when received.  Usually it is defined as some form of "alimony" or whatever the jurisdiction defines it as - such as "participant shall pay to ex-spouse 1/3 of the amount of any pension payments received in the month of receipt...." (my ex-father in-law had such a provision in his divorce decree (basically because both parties attorney's had no clue how to deal with a DB plan).)

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21 hours ago, MoJo said:

And yes, I've seen divorce decrees that enforce a provision on the participant to pay over a certain sum when received.  Usually it is defined as some form of "alimony" or whatever the jurisdiction defines it as - such as "participant shall pay to ex-spouse 1/3 of the amount of any pension payments received in the month of receipt...." (my ex-father in-law had such a provision in his divorce decree (basically because both parties attorney's had no clue how to deal with a DB plan).)

My husband had one of these with his first wife because Civil Service Pension rules don't recognize QDROs. It ended up working to his advantage when she didn't pay some of the bills she was obligated to pay and he applied her "alimony" payments to them directly. (Gotta love a creative lawyer!)

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