Qualified Domestic Relations Order Handbook Book

• 1. INTRODUCTION TO QDROs

• Employee Retirement Income Security Act
• Survivor Annuity Requirements
• Retirement Equity Act
• Definition of QDRO
• Basic Criteria Necessary for QDRO
• Failure to Understand QDRO - Lessons Learned "The Hard Way"

• Names and Mailing Addresses
• Amount or Percentage of Participant's Benefits
• Number of Payments or Period to Which Order Applies
• Each Plan to Which Order Applies
• Provision of Child Support, Alimony Payments, or Marital Property Rights
• Pursuant to State Domestic Relations Law
• No Alteration of Benefits Provided Under Plan
• No Benefits Required to Be Paid to Another Alternate Payee
• The New Standard of Care for QDROs
• The Seven Critical Areas to Address in Every QDRO
• Growth Protection
• Survivorship Protection
• Early Retirement Subsidies, Supplements, and Post-Retirement Cost of Living Adjustments
• Anti-Circumvention Language
• Explaining the QDRO to Your Client
• The Separation Agreement
• Following Through with the Plan Administrator
• Obtaining Company Pre-Approval
• Judges' Views of QDROs

• Do Not Shortchange Your Client's QDRO Rights
• Incorporate the QDRO by Reference
• Protecting the Alternate Payee's Benefits Against Actions by the Participant
• Merger of Benefits with Other Retirement Systems
• Reservation of Jurisdiction and the Recharacterization of Benefits
• How to Interpret that "Old" Separation Agreement Language If You Represent the Alternate Payee

• The Mysterious Defined Benefit Pension Plan
• Pension Plans Come in Many Varieties
• Preparing QDROs for Money Purchase Pension Plans (When Coverture May Not Apply)
• Preparing QDROs for Floor-Offset Arrangement Pension Plans
• Remember the Coverture
• Distinguish Between Separate Interest and Shared Payment Approach
• The Critical Early Retirement Subsidy
• Do Not Forget the Boilerplate
• Dissecting a Pension Plan QDRO
• How to Draft QDROs for Plans That Utilize the "Severed" Approach for Their Separate Interest QDROs

• Determining the "Marital Portion" of the Pension
• The Faulty Subtraction Method
• Coverture Formula: The Recommended Approach
• Mechanics of the Coverture Formula
• The Two-Wives Dilemma
• How to Adjust Coverture When Alternate Payee Commences Benefits Before Participant Retires
• Model Coverture Language
• Problems with the Berrington Approach
• Bye-Bye Berrington
• Do Not Be Fooled by the Frozen Coverture Approach
• Recognizing Bad Coverture
• Coverture for Military Plans: Years Versus Points Approach
• Case Law

• ThereAre Just Two Ways to Draft QDROs for Pension Plans
• Understanding the "Separate Interest" Approach (Where Benefits Are Based on the Alternate Payee's Life Expectancy)
• Understanding the "Shared Payment" Approach (Where Benefits Are Still Based on the Participant's Life Expectancy)

• Survivorship Considerations for QDROs
• Should QDROs Contain Survivorship Provisions?
• Payment of Survivorship Coverage Under a QDRO
• Securing Survivorship Rights in the QDRO