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Tables of Contents for Rightfully Yours
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Preface
x
 
Did Your Divorce Decree Grant You a Portion of Your Ex-Husband's Future Pension? (It Should Have!)
1
9
Don't Forget the Pension
2
1
It's Your Property Right
3
1
It's Not Alimony
4
1
How Much Is the Retirement Benefit Worth?
5
4
Defined contribution plans
5
2
Defined benefit pension plans
7
2
The Use of Offsetting Assets
9
1
A QDRO Is a Must
9
1
What Is a QDRO? (And Why Do You Need One?)
10
9
Horror Story No. 1
11
1
Horror Story No. 2
12
1
Horror Story No. 3
13
1
Congress Created QDRO Laws in 1984
13
2
The Requirements of a QDRO
15
2
Pension Plan Administrators Can Throw Out Your QDRO If They Don't Like It
17
2
What Types of QDROs Are Available?
19
4
Two Types of QDROs for Defined Benefit Pension Plans
19
1
Survivorship Benefits under Defined Benefit Pension Plans
20
1
Former Spouses Can Get Survivor Protection
20
1
The Separate Interest QDRO
21
1
The Shared Payment QDRO
22
1
QDROs for Defined Contribution Plans
22
1
Do You Need to Get an Attorney to Draft a QDRO? (What If You Can't Afford One?)
23
7
Contact Your Original Divorce Attorney
23
1
Contact a New Family Law Attorney
24
1
Try to Draft a QDRO Yourself Using a Sample QDRO from this Book
24
4
Step-by-step instructions for completing a sample QDRO yourself
26
2
Getting the Judge's Signature
28
2
How Do You Deal with the Plan Administrator?
30
10
Plan Administrators and You
31
1
Remaining Nonadversarial with the Plan Administrator
31
3
Problems in Discovery
34
1
Your Rights under the Federal Pension Law Called ERISA
35
1
Administrative Fees for Processing QDROs
36
1
Constructive Notice of a QDRO
37
1
The Company's Own Model QDRO Language
38
1
The Administrator's Approval and Signature
39
1
Could Your Ex-Husband Have More than One Pension?
40
6
Nonqualified Retirement Plans Not Subject to QDROs
41
1
Types of Defined Contribution Plans
41
1
Types of Defined Benefit Pension Plans
42
1
Coverage under Two Defined Benefit Pension Plans
43
1
A Separate QDRO for Each Plan
44
1
Don't Forget about Your Ex-Husband's Previous Employment
45
1
How Much of the Pension Are You Entitled to Receive?
46
11
Determining the Marital Portion of a Defined Contribution Plan
47
1
Premarital Account Balances
47
1
QDRO Tips for Determining Your Share of a Defined Contribution Plan
47
2
Interest and investment earnings
48
1
Sneaky plan loans by participants
48
1
Contributions made after divorce that were for periods before divorce
48
1
Determining the Marital Portion of a Defined Benefit Pension Plan
49
2
Coverture: The Recommended Approach for QDROs under Defined Benefit Pension Plans
51
6
The mechanics of the coverture approach
53
2
Model coverture language
55
1
If your divorce decree did not include a coverture formula
56
1
When Can You Start Receiving Your Share of the Pension? (Do You Have to Wait Until Your Ex Retires?)
57
6
The Early Retirement Subsidy
58
3
How does the early retirement subsidy affect an alternate payee under a QDRO?
59
1
What if a shared payment QDRO is used?
60
1
When can you receive benefits under a defined contribution plan?
60
1
Direct Distribution or Rollover to an Individual Retirement Account
61
1
Establishing Separate Accounts
61
2
Are You Entitled to Receive Your Share of the Pension for Your Entire Lifetime? (If So, How Can You Secure a Lifetime Pension?)
63
4
Use of a Separate Interest QDRO
64
1
Use of a Shared Payment QDRO
65
1
Contact the Plan Administrator If Uncertain
65
1
What about a Defined Contribution Plan?
66
1
Is It Too Late to Draft a QDRO Now? (Your Divorce Occured Years Ago)
67
7
The Importance of Drafting a 401(k) Plan QDRO before Your Ex-Husband Terminates His Employment
68
1
What If the Plan Makes a Distribution to Your Ex-Husband While the QDRO Process Is Pending?
69
1
Is There an 18-Month Maximum Segregation Period for Pending QDROs?
70
1
Check for a Possible Rollover to an Individual Retirement Account
71
1
What If the Original Divorce Decree Was Silent on the Pension Issue?
71
1
The Buildup of Child Support or Alimony Arrearage after Divorce
72
2
What about Past-Due Child Support and Alimony (Can You Use a QDRO for This?)
74
12
Does This Sound Familiar?
74
1
QDRO for Child Support and Alimony
75
1
Using Multiple QDROs
76
1
A Tax Tip for Child Support QDROs
76
2
Getting Past-Due Child Support Payments or Alimony from a Defined Contribution Plan
78
1
Getting Past-Due Child Support Payments or Alimony from a Defined Benefit Pension Plan
79
7
Your Ex-Husband Has Already Retired (Is It Too Late to Draft a QDRO?)
86
4
You Must Use a Shared Payment QDRO If Your Ex-Husband Is Retired
86
1
A Possible ``Catch-22'' Situation That Will Destroy Any Chance You Have to Receive a Lifetime Pension
87
1
No Retroactive Pension Payments Are Allowed If Your Ex-Husband Is Already Retired
88
1
There May Be a Way to Recoup Lost Pension Payments
89
1
Your Ex-Husband Has Died (Is It Too Late to Draft a QDRO?)
90
4
Get the QDRO Done before Your Ex-Husband Dies
91
1
Your Ex-Husband Died before the QDRO Was Done: What Do You Do Now?
91
3
You Are Going Through a Divorce (What Should You Know about the QDRO Process?)
94
8
Complete Discovery of All Plans of Coverage
94
1
The Separation Agreement: Making Sure Your Attorney Doesn't Shortchange Your QDRO Rights
95
5
Calculation of assigned benefit: Coverture recommended
96
1
Survivorship protection
96
1
Postretirement cost of living adjustments
97
1
Early retirement subsidy
97
1
Anti-circumvention language
98
2
Incorporate the QDRO by Reference into Your Decree
100
1
Don't Forget the Boilerplate
101
1
The Follow-Through with the Plan Administrator
101
1
Your Attorney Never Drafted a QDRO for You (Is This Considered Malpractice? What Are Your Options Now?)
102
4
Failure to Draft a QDRO
103
1
Be Proactive
104
1
Consider a Malpractice Suit a Last Resort
105
1
What If Your Ex-Husband Is Covered under the Federal Civil Service Retirement System?
106
11
Dividing the Employee Annuity
107
2
What are the employee eligibility requirements?
107
1
What are the maximum allowable payments to the former spouse?
108
1
Are there any application requirements for the former spouse?
108
1
When do payments to a former spouse terminate?
109
1
The Refund of Employee Contributions
109
1
What amounts are subject to a court order acceptable for processing?
109
1
Will the payment of a refund of employee contributions terminate any future rights to a portion of the employee annuity or a survivor annuity?
110
1
Can a COAP prevent a separated employee from receiving a refund of employee contributions, in order to secure a former spouse's future right to a portion of an employee annuity or a former spouse survivor annuity?
110
1
Former Spouse Survivor Annuities
110
7
What are the maximum survivor benefits payable under the Civil Service Retirement System?
110
1
Are there eligibility requirements for the former spouse?
111
1
Do you have a future right to a former spouse survivor annuity?
111
1
How does the employee or former spouse pay for the cost of providing a former spouse survivor annuity under a COAP?
111
1
Once a court order acceptable for processing has been prepared, where should it be sent?
112
1
Can court orders bar the payment of employee annuities?
112
1
What kind of formulas can be used in a COAP to identify the former spouse's share of the employee annuity?
113
4
What If Your Ex-Husband Is Covered under a Military Retirement Plan?
117
23
The 10/10 Rule for Property Divisions
118
1
Maximum Payments to a Former Spouse
118
1
The Military Uses Only the Shared Payment Approach
119
1
The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940
120
1
Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Coverage for a Former Spouse
121
1
Deemed Election of Former Spouse Coverage
122
1
Termination of SBP Surviving Spouse Coverage on the Remarriage of a Former Spouse before Age 55
123
1
Anti-Circumvention Language
123
2
Model Military Court Orders to Divide Retired Pay
125
15
What If Your Ex-Husband Is Covered under the Railroad Retirement Board Pension Plan?
140
9
A Tier I Annuity Is Not Divisible by a Court Order
140
1
A Tier II Annuity Is Divisible by a Court Order
141
1
Vested Dual Benefit Payments and Supplemental Annuities
142
1
Survivor Rights to Tier II Annuities
143
1
Other Railroad Retirement Board Pension Plan Coverage
144
1
Model Court-Ordered Language to Divide the ``Divisible Portion'' of Railroad Retirement Benefits
144
5
Is There Model QDRO Language That You Can Use?
149
26
Glossary of QDRO and Pension Terminology
175