My husband was divorced in 2019 in Ohio. The QDRO was never filed. Now we are going back to court Because his ex-wife found out, she has no claim to the nonqualified plan under QDRO’s. So she’s trying to get additional compensation for the nonqualified.
His divorce decree states that ‘’the plaintiff shall be awarded 50% of the marital portion of the defendants retirement plans both qualified and unqualified. The marital portion shall be determined using a covert fraction. The termination date for the marriage shall be January 16, 2019.
Until such time as a defendant retires, the plaintiff shall be maintained as the beneficiary of said account. The portion of the retirement account awarded to the plaintiff shall be transferred to plaintiff via QDRO free of tax consequences to the defendant, or the Plaintiff. Plaintiff shall be solely responsible for any tax consequences associated with premature distribution of the funds awarded to her. Subsequent to the transfer to the plaintiff of her share of the defendant's retirement accounts, including accumulated games. Plaintiff agrees to waive any further claim to these retirement accounts.’’
We recently found out that she is terminally ill. We are raising their 14- and 15-year-old children that she legally adopted with my husband, who is their biological grandfather. I’m sure she is going to want a separate interest and we want it to be shared. She has not had anything to do with the children in the past 4 years. my husband is still working at age 72 and plans to retire within the next 3 to 4 years. One would think with her being terminal she would want the money to go to the children, but she does not. So, would you define what’s in our divorce decree as shared or separate?