All About Pensions

2 Responses to “When Can I Start Getting My Qdro Benefits?”

1. John the Actuary on February 10th, 2010 at 8:35 am

   How good was your attorney?
   I’ve seen all kinds of QDROs written all kinds of ways.
   In the best ones the QDRO is written to say that the Alternate Payee (the ex-spouse) can retire as early as the earliest retirement date under the plan and receives the actuarial equivalent of the benefit payable to the participant at that time (whether or not the participant actually retires). In this case, you’d be able to receive the benefit as long as your ex is eligible, whether or not he retires himself.
   In the worst ones, the QDRO talks about how to split up the benefit and then says it’s “payable in accordance with the terms of the plan” or such unclear language. In this case you at the mercy of the plan administrator.
   If the QDRO did not mention healthcare benefits, you are not entitled to them, subject, of course, to the mercy of the plan administrator. (I have seen language in retiree medical plans that ties eligibility for retiree medical to eligibility for retirement; if this applies you could get lucky)
   Warning: I assume you have seen an estimate of the retirement benefit you are getting from your ex-spouse. Typically these wind up being very small because you get 50% of his benefit multiplied by the time he was married to you and covered by the plan to the entire time he was covered by the plan. If his benefit is $1,000 per month at 65 and he was married to you for ten years and he worked for 20 years, you’d get $1,000 x 10/20 * 50% or $250/month. Since you are younger, you can expect another 10% or so less to adjust for the difference in life expectancy between you and him. Also early retirement at 55 is typically subject to a 50% early retirement reduction. $112.50/month. These are all educated guesses but you can see the order of magnitude.

2. freakboy on February 10th, 2010 at 3:04 pm

   as i understand it you are correct. you will be responsible for your own health benefits. now you know why men have been screaming about the unfairness of divorce for years.

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