Old dusty DRO in participant file

[Guest Blueglass]

A participant is ready to retiree and upon further investigation, there is a DRO in his file from the 80's. It does not appear that anything was done to make it a QDRO. No paper work has ever been sent to the participant in regards to the DRO. The DRO mentions the alt. payee will a receive a benefit while she was married to the participant...however...fails to mention the retirement plans (also missing alt. payee and participant address in DRO). What are the obligations of the plan sponsor?

[QDROphile]

The plan sponsor has no obligation. Administration of domestic relations orders is a fiduciary function. The fiduciary is required to determine qualification of the order within a reasonable time and notify the parties of the determination. Better late than never.

[mbozek]

A plan does not have to honor DROs issued prior to January 1, 1985 if there was no payout being made on that date. Section 303 of the Retirement Equity Act.

[QDROphile]

Embellishment on mbozek's good point:

The transition rule says that a pre-1985 order does not have to be treated as qualified unless was is in pay status. The rule also says the order can be treated as qualified even though the order does not meet the requirements that the Act established for qualification. I don't think the order can simply be disregarded without any kind of notice. If the order is from before 1985, it would be best to make a formal determination about whether or not the order will be treated as qualified and notify the parties.