QDROs Benefits Accrued

[Guest Brad5252]

A settlement agreement states 50% of benefits accrued. The DRO in process states 50% of total account balances. This relates to a 401k plan with non vested employer dollars. The question is Does phrase benefits accrued include non vested contributions and thus the DRO is not correct?

[QDROphile]

You are getting into a matter of document interpretation and questions of intent. But for my money, you can have unvested accrued benefits the same as you can have unvested account balances. From the point of view of a plan administrator, a DRO is never incorrect. It is either qualifed or not. Whether or not it delivers what the parties want or intend is irrelevant, although it creates trouble for the administrator when a party is frustrated.