BENEFITS Due Ex-Wife in by-laws of June20,1989 after death of Husband?

[Guest BDivocee]

My divorce states I am entiled to one- half of retirement benefits at his actual retirement accrued to the June 20, 1989 date.I have just learned that he took an early retirement starting Sept 28, 1998 and had not informed the State of the divorce judgement. The judgement reads: at the time of his actual retirement from the State Employees' Retirement System, in accordance with the formula for the establishment of retirement benefits in effect on that date. I would like to know am I entiled to any benfits if he should die first?

[This message has been edited by BDivocee (edited 05-06-99).]

[This message has been edited by BDivocee (edited 05-06-99).]

[QDROphile]

Your message is very sparse, but I will rely on some inferences. It sounds like your divorce decree awards you a portion of retirement benefits of your former spouse. You will get nothing from the retirment plan under any circumstances unless the plan adminidtrator is given a domestic relations order (DRO) that meets the requirements to be a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). Your divorce decree by itself might be a DRO that meets the requirements, but it probably is not. If the plan administrator is given a DRO, the plan administrator is required to notify you if the DRO is a QDRO. If you don't have such a notice, assume you do not have a QDRO.

If you have a QDRO, you might get something or nothing if your ex-spouse dies before you start getting benefits. It depends on the plan and on the terms of the QDRO. If the plan is a pension plan that provides for payments for life after retirement, there is a great risk that you will get nothing if your ex-spouse dies before benefits start unless the QDRO has exactly the right terms.

Because of the likelihood that you do not even have a QDRO and will get nothing, no matter what happens, you should get assistance to help you understand what you have and what you need to do to protect your interest in the retirement benefits. Although a lawyer who knows about these matters may seem expensive, all of the potential payments to you from the retirement plan depend on getting things right.

[Guest BDivocee]

Could you please tell me in clear trems what is QDRO?

[Guest ezollars]

My first step would be to ask the attorney that represented you in your divorce (assuming you had one) to explain what a QDRO is. If you have one, the attorney will let you know immediately. If you don't, he/she will also (such as by saying "I've never heard of such a thing" followed by "what's ERISA?" when calling the plan administrator).

If you did have a valid QDRO delivered to the plan at the time of your divorce and the plan ignored the terms of it, that's one situation. If, in fact, you never had a QDRO and/or the plan was never advised of it, that's another issue entirely.

As the previous advice suggested, get thee to a competent attorney (someone with experience in the QDRO area) immediately.

[Guest BDivocee]

First I would like to thank you all for your help. Second I have talked to a laywer who said we might beable to to a lump sum instead of monthly payments.