QDRO question

[Gary]

Say a participant chooses a 50% j&s pension, since he is remarried.

Say his gross pension = 1,000 and his ex spouse is to receive $ 500.

Would this result in the participant receiving a 50% j&s based solely on his $ 500 pension, as if there was no other pension and would his ex wife still be entitled to her $ 500, however she chooses to receive pension?

Any thoughts?

[QDROphile]

You will have to provide more details about what the alternate payee was awarded.

Was the alternate payee given 50% of the value of the benefit? Was the alternate payee given a payment of $500 per month, and on what basis? Any mention of alternate payee rights in death benefits?

The division of benefits is extremely sensitive to exactly what the order says.

Also, the result may depend on how the plan allows the benefits to be divided. For example, plans may choose not to allow an order to provide for a portion of payments to the alternate payee if the order arrives before payments start to the participant (some call this a "stream of payment" or "split the check" approach). However, the plan's policies on these issues probably has more to do with whether or not the order is qualified.

[Gary]

I was trying to present a case where it has already been determined that the particpant is entitled to $ 500 and the alt. payee is entitled to $ 500. And then assume that the participant begins this payment at his NRA.

So I was wondering if all those aspects were in place, if there was a typical way that the participant could choose a 50% j&s and if it had any impact to alt payee benefits and the general logistics of this scenario. I realize that the specific terms of the QDRO could and probably would ompact this, but I was curious if there was a way of handling this that might occur frequently.