December 2020 presenter to Staten Island Women’s Bar on “How to Successfully Handle Retirement Division in Divorce Agreements”

This CLE touched on the basic considerations an attorney must make when negotiating or drafting a settlement agreement that addresses a division of retirement benefits. Some of those important terms and issues include: What is a QDRO? It is surprising how many practitioners aren’t even sure what this acronym stands for. A QDRO, or a Qualified Domestic Relations Order creates the existence of an Alternate Payee’s right to all or a portion of a Participant’s retirement benefit. In New York State, a practitioner must be familiar with the Majauskas Formula for dividing a pension benefit. Further, if you are representing a Participant who is or may receive a disability benefit in connection with their defined benefit plan, you should always include language to identify the service related benefit versus the disability benefit. Last on this short list of issues, is whether or not you’ve effectively drafted language to protect your client’s benefit, as alternate payee by including language about the joint and survivorship option. All of these issues must be resolved prior to the execution of your divorce agreement as a QDRO preparer cannot modify, enlarge or include language that isn’t there.