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Uncontested divorce and retirement plan


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I am a federal employee and am going to get retired in 5 years. I was married once, we finalized a DIY divorce with a help of onlinedivorcer.com and during the time of marriage  or after that was over we didn't sign any papers regarding my retirement plan or pension. The divorce was over 3 years ago, we were married also 3 years and haven't got any common assets or property or kids. My present-day GF keeps pushing the wedding because she is sure that some part of my pension would go as a spousal support to my ex-wife according to the Texas state laws, however neither QDRO nor any other documents regarding my pension were signed. I am interested whether it's true and I am going to lose a couple of grands monthly and what should I do if it's for real? What happens if I get married once again?

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Not enough info.  Clearly, you need legal advice; make sure that attorney is experienced in QDRO's.  More to the point, that attorney should be experienced in the procedures applicable to the federal systems.  Technically, the federal systems are not covered by QDRO rules, but do recognize other documents.  (There may be some practitioners reading here that can offer some specific attorney recommendations, but do your own research also.)

I'm a retirement actuary. Nothing about my comments is intended or should be construed as investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. Occasionally, but not all the time, it might be reasonable to interpret my comments as actuarial or consulting advice.

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3 hours ago, ChristineGarcia said:

I am a federal employee and am going to get retired in 5 years. I was married once, we finalized a DIY divorce with a help of onlinedivorcer.com and during the time of marriage  or after that was over we didn't sign any papers regarding my retirement plan or pension. The divorce was over 3 years ago, we were married also 3 years and haven't got any common assets or property or kids. My present-day GF keeps pushing the wedding because she is sure that some part of my pension would go as a spousal support to my ex-wife according to the Texas state laws, however neither QDRO nor any other documents regarding my pension were signed. I am interested whether it's true and I am going to lose a couple of grands monthly and what should I do if it's for real? What happens if I get married once again?

This is not the venue for your kind of situation.  You need to consult competent counsel in your area who will be best able to help you through these issues. Best of luck.

Lawrence C. Starr, FLMI, CLU, CEBS, CPC, ChFC, EA, ATA, QPFC
President
Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc.
46 Daggett Drive
West Springfield, MA 01089
413-736-2066
larrystarr@qpc-inc.com

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To supplement Larry Starr, if the divorce is getting cold and nothing was expressly done regarding the retirement benefit, state law and the divorce documents are the most important factors.  It was a mistake not to have expressly dealt with the retirement benefit, even if the ex spouse was not supposed to get any of yours.

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