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As far as your phrase of concern ("The Participant shall not be required to name the AP as his surviving spouse before his annuity commencement date.") goes, it looks to me like incompetent drafting. I think the phrase has no place in a domestice relations order. It demonstrates a lack of undrestanding of DB plan benefits. It may be found in models and model language because of the recurring failure of domestic relations lawyers to deal with death beneifits properly, but it is a very bad place holder in lieu of not addressing the death benefit issue at all, which omission I believe would be malpractice. This points out that somebody needs a competent ERISA adviser to make sure that the parties understand the issue and the the drafting lawyer states the intended outcome properly in the order in a way that the plan can understnad and implement the informed intent. I think the plan's response was is a suggestion that the language was incompetent, and it got it's appropriate attention. Now that is has the attention of the parties, y'all need to reach an informed understanding and decide on the division of benefits that has the intended and fully understood outcomes. Your penultimate paragraph shows you are on the right track toward understanding. I hope you can get advice that gives everyone a full understanding of the issue.

There are potentially 3 documents in play: (i) the written Agreement of the parties, if any; (ii) the Judgment of Divorce; and, (iii) the QDRO. It is not clear from your posts where the sentence, "The Participant shall not be required to name the AP as his surviving spouse before his annuity commencement date" is located. The important issue is the intent of the parties in their written Agreement, or, if there was no written Agreement, then in the terms of the Judgment of Divorce. The QDRO is an enforcement tool designed to implement and enforce the agreement of the parties or the ruling by the court. That's the starting point. What did the parties intend, and where is that intention reflected? The ability of the Plan to take action may depend on the type of Plan, that is, a private company plan, a Federal, State or municipal plan, or an international plan. So get back to us with more specifics. These matter are very fact intensive. And BTW, you need to hire a lawyer immediately so that the other party doesn't get the court to act in your best interests without you having your say.

Section 415 can also trigger catch-ups. SEP contributions are treated as contributions to a defined contribution plan under Section 415. See 1.415(c)-1(a)(2)(ii)(A).