pension wanting qdro corrections

[Guest sucker]

Just heard from pension State of NJ that the amended qdro I filed a motion for and won because the first erroneously stated the numerator as the total length of marraige in months when I was not in the plan until 10 yrs after the marraige so I had to get it to read 123 as numerator instead of 246...when judge wrote the amendment he did not write the entire qdro just the corrected paragraph now that I have filed they are rejected it wanting it in its entiriety submitted...Is this considered a motion I have file as I did with the original pro se amendment to qdro or merely a letter to judges clerk to type up in entiriety??

[ETA Consulting LLC]

I would speak with the NJ plan administrator and explain to them what you are trying to do and have them provide your options. It's interesting that: 1) QDROs are a common exception to the anti-assignment rules in Section 401(a)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code. Hence, the QDRO is what allows the participant's benefit to be separated and assigned to a spouse during a divorce without disqualifying the plan. However, 2) the anti-assignment rules of Section 401(a)(13) do not apply to governmental plans or church plans. Therefore, a "legitimate QDRO" isn't necessarily needed for the assignment.

I would use this as a position to accept the amendment without redoing the entire QDRO, but that's just me. It would be hard to determine what the actual plan administrator would require in order to get you where you need to be. The best initial approach is to work directly with them. I think that at one time or another, any particular pension professional had to argue another individual out of their stance by quoting different rules. I also think that this would not, typically, be the first approach when the issue may be resolved by merely accomodating them when it doesn't require to much work.

Good Luck!

[Guest sucker]

The administrator was abrupt and rude and did not want to answer but rather lecture that there was no decision made as to wheather or not my approved accidental submission was approved otherwise I revert to service...the original problem was with the numerator for the number of months the plan earned during marriaige as I was married 10 years prior to my employment and enrollment..noone refers you to a supervisor above this person and your left in the black hole of limbo....I didn't know if it was worth calling the clerk of the judge for retyping and inserting the amendment..state pension follows specific language if you are missing a piece of it they reject it..so I am not sure as to if this accepted because when I called a couselor yesterday to see if calcultions are done on maxium benefit or the option I pick and which numerator is stated in qdro on file they told me the April one I sent in was rejected last April and I remember the letter saying the draft was not excepted but when I called the administrator to tell her that was the Judges order it had instructions enclosed with the rejection letter saying that state plan must have specific language and the only thing I can think of is that it was just the corrected exerpt.

[ETA Consulting LLC]

You may have to have the amended language included in the entire order, and resubmit. I totally understand what you're dealing with on the rudeness and abruptness of the administrator; it is a reflection of incompetence on the administrator's part. You asked for assistance in an area in which they are totally inept. Instead of taking ownership of the issue and providing you a detailed explanation of the process and your options, they get combative and short in order to get you off the phone; as they have convinced themselves (through their own incompentence) that you are the issue. I've seen this on countless occassions. Obviously, there are two sides to every story and we know only yours. I have witnessed (first hand) many similiar issues which is why I believe this issue in with the paln administrator.

I hope it works out for you. For starters, I'd have the courts rewrite the entire order to include the amended language. It may be advisable for the court to reference the previous order and this this order is intended to supercede the older order in its entirety. Other experts may have more valueable insight as this would merely be my approach.

Good Luck!

[Guest sucker]

would the judges clerk provide this or would some separate form have to be obtained