ParticipantPensionLimbo

Why the retirement benefit seems held up is the seeming adversarial position of both the Plan admin and also the QDRO attorney who was assigned in the court order. Just last week Thursday, the Plan admin sent the judge a 5-page letter saying (basically) "the court should retain jurisdiction" -and- continuing to say "the court has already decided to separate the benefits" inferring that my ex-wife (AP) should still be entitled to receive into her estate (if any). I *did* take a copy of the death certificate to the Plan but they even threw in a misrepresentation in the 5-page letter that said I told them I was a widow and not divorced! :( With all that from the Plan and the QDRO atty that said the funds would evaporate, I'm nervous.

My ex-wife passed away before a QDRO was done. The requirement for the QDRO is in the Family court order for my pension only. I'm going to request the court/judge remove the need for the QDRO since my ex-wife has passed and we can't move forward to begin a QDRO as originally intended. By the way, I spoke to the originally assigned QDRO attorney and he told me that given the complexity of getting a QDRO now, I would essentially lose the entire retirement benefit to legal fees! Huh!? Court date is tomorrow - just found this website today! Trying to have the court/judge provide a MUCH cheaper solution to getting my pension released without going through Probate and whatever legal gears this QDRO attorney said would eat the entirety of the pension fund! Please advise and thank you in advance. Best regards, Michael D. in California