My husband of 20 years just started receiving a pension he earned prior to our marriage which was subject to a QDRO. We had to submit his paperwork at the end of the year for the pension payout and he chose a payout based on 100% survivorship. He just received a letter that outlined that his ex wife will receive 50% of the pension, per the QDRO as expected, and also that if my husband were to die, she’d receive the same amount - also expected as the QDRO did specify she would have death benefits. However the letter also specified that if my husband predeceases me I would only get about 1/6 of that amount . I am confused. If my husband’s pension, in which he was 100% vested - for simplicity’s sake - is 1000/month with 100% survivorship, if he dies is it appropriate/expected that his half of the 1000 virtually disappears? With the ex wife getting her expected $500 still but the current spouse only getting $100? This seems to imply that my husbands employer gets a windfall by being allowed to keep 400/month in which he was entirely vested with 100% survivorship just because he got divorced. How can the employer be allowed to somehow not pay the full survivor benefit given that he was vested? This seems like it would be illegal. There is no argument at all with what the ex wife is getting , just confusion over why the current spouse would lose the remaining piece of the pension. Is this normal? Should I be engaging a lawyer?
