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I assumed that since you used the term QDRO you are dealing with an ERISA qualified plan and not using "QDRO" as a generic term for a retirement benefits order under a State, County, Municipal or international plan, most of which are NOT covered by ERISA. But you said "teaching pension" and that raises two questions. Most teacher plans are funded either by the county where you teach or by the State , and neither are normally ERISA qualified. Second, a "pension" is what you get when you retire at a certain age with a certain number of years of service and income history, and is paid out monthly, and does not have an ascertainable value. A "retirement plan" is akin to a 401(k) or a 403(b) and you can look at a statement and see how much is in the plan. So I suspect that you are not talking about an ERISA qualified QDRO and are not talking about a "pension". You can see how precision in language is so important in this area of the law. And it's also important to know in what state's court system you are operating. There are a number of answers to your question: 1. If the Judgment of Divorce (incorporating your Settlement Agreement) contains all of the information that is required for an ERISA qualified QDRO, then you don't need a QDRO and the Plan Administrator should accept a certified copy of the Judgment of Divorce (with the Settlement Agreement attached). See the 2nd paragraph on page 4 of the DOL ESBA Handbook attached, or that can be downloaded at https://www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/publications/qdros.pdf 2. In some states like Maryland, a QDRO or any other retirement allocation order need not be signed by the parties. It is considered to be an enforcement tool like a garnishment or attachment. See Rohrbeck v. Rohrbeck, 318 Md. 28, 566 A.2d 767 (1989). The normal protocol is to file a Motion for Entry of Retirement Benefits Order. It is quite bizarre in your case since your ex is the one to benefit from the receipt of the funds on deposit in your account. And he may or may not be entitled to gains, losses or investment experience with respect to his share from the valuation date to the date his share is distributed to him. See attached Memo. 3. If you die before an ERISA qualified QDRO is approved by the plan administrator, the Plan will also be subject to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and he can get a post mortem QDRO. But if the Plan is not under ERISA, he cannot get a post mortem Order, your account balance will pass to your named beneficiary. If you have not done so, you need to name a beneficiary. If he is still named as the beneficiary of the account and you die, he will get it all. Lots of Federal law on this. If he dies first the question is whether his estate will be entitled to obtain a QDRO? Maybe. 4. In some states there is a statute of limitations on the right of a party to obtain a QDRO. If the Order is not submitted within the statutory time, the underly right to the QDRO is lost and collections cannot be enforced. It's like a judgment that expires in 12 years in many states and cannot thereafter be collected unless it was renewed in the proper way. 5. In many cases, if the Judgment of Divorce does not contain a paragraph like this: "ORDERED, that this Court or another court of competent jurisdiction shall retain continuing jurisdiction for the purpose of awarding, entering, modifying, increasing, decreasing, amending, revising, explaining, interpreting, clarifying or vacating any Judgment or Order previously entered by this or such other court with respect to the allocation between the parties of all pension or retirement plan benefits, included defined benefit and defined contribution plan benefits, and including retirement annuity benefits and pre-retirement and post-retirement survivor annuity benefits or death benefits." If that language is not in the Judgment of Divorce then the court loses jurisdiction after the expiration of time specified in the applicable court rule for the modification or court orders. See, e.g. Leadroot v. Leadroot, 147 Md.App. 672, 810 A.2d 526 (2002), holding that in the absence of clear and convincing proof of fraud, mistake and irregularity per Maryland Rule 2-535(a), the Court did not have jurisdiction to issue an amended QDRO that revised the coverture fraction which everyone seemed to agree was a clear mistake by the trial judge in computation of the numerator. Bottom line is that you need to find a lawyer iin your jurisdiction who is conversant with the law of your state as to this area of the law. David QDRO Handbook.pdf Gains, Losses, Ownership Interest and Constructive Trust.pdf

Agree with jpod. This is covered on page 29 of IRS Pub 15-B. With only a couple of exceptions (deemed premium for Section 79 life insurance in excess of $50k being the only one I can remember), taxable fringe benefits are subject to FITW as well as Box 1 W-2 reporting. The break they give you is that you can treat as paid at a more convenient time after the fringe is provided, e.g. end of year, and also in some cases use supplemental withholding rules. Again, covered in Pub 15-B. Still subject to withholding under 3401(a), however.

I am not entirely sure what you mean by "run the gift card through payroll processing." Regardless of what you mean, taxes (income and FICA/Medicare) must be withheld on all taxable compensation, even non-cash compensation. There are a few exceptions, but I am pretty certain there isn't one that would apply to a taxable gift card. Will the employer get the electric chair for not withholding? Probably not, but if the requirement to withhold is relevant to whether the comp gets counted for plan purposes then you need to take the withholding requirement into account whether or not the employer actually withheld.

If he would have been paid that $800k in February had he remained employed, then you have to look closer at your comp definition, but if this payment is due to/triggered by his termination of employment then I don't think there is any question that it is NOT plan compensation.