Would a QDRO be necessary to get a judge to sign off a Default Judgement in California?

[Gerald G]

Processing a divorce and in the final stretch.  Have to file the FL-345 again so I can get processed and go to the judge.  Section e speaks on the QDRO(for 401k).  The Respondent is not involved.  Does that mean that I still need to check that option and informed the judge that I will he getting a QDRO done?  Or could i leave it blank?

[Larry Starr]

This is generally not the forum for this question.  A general statement: if you are looking to get part of your soon-to-be ex spouse's benefits, you have to get a QDRO prepared, accepted by the court, and accepted by the plan. You need to hire someone who can help you with that.  

[david rigby]

39 minutes ago, Larry Starr said:

 You need to hire someone who can help you with that.  

Often, but not always, that "someone" is an attorney who is well-versed in QDROs (not all divorce lawyers are described by this statement).  However, if the Plan in question is sponsored by a governmental organization (eg, a state employees' plan), then QDRO rules do not automatically apply; but many such plans have adopted similar rules.  Therefore, your "someone" should know those rules also.

[Larry Starr]

8 minutes ago, david rigby said:

Often, but not always, that "someone" is an attorney who is well-versed in QDROs (not all divorce lawyers are described by this statement).  However, if the Plan in question is sponsored by a governmental organization (eg, a state employees' plan), then QDRO rules do not automatically apply; but many such plans have adopted similar rules.  Therefore, your "someone" should know those rules also.

Let's go back to the original question: Would a QDRO be necessary to get a judge to sign off a Default Judgement in California?

The Florida form mentioned is a Property Order Attachment to Judgement.  As such, it is the judge's order regarding how property is to be distributed.  If includes the info on which of the two are going to be responsible for getting the QDRO, what it will do, and how the fee for the QDRO will be paid.  

So, it appears this is NOT a governmental plan and no reason to expect it is.  

So the answer to the question posed is that the QDRO does not appear to be necessary to get the judge to sign off on the property order, but that order is going to say whether a QDRO is required, what it should do, and who is going to pay for it. After it is drafted, the judge is certainly going to have to actually sign it since a DRO is what he will be issuing and the plan will then determined if it is qualified (a QDRO).