Divorce

Although I cannot say what would happen in your specific situation, I did ask a couple of attorneys at my organization who used to do divorces for some insight into what usually happens. From my understanding, usually the lawyer for the person who wants a portion of the retirement benefits would file a qualified domestic relations order (“QDRO”) at the time of the divorce and then, the spouse’s retirement would be paid at the time of retirement. The QDRO tells the retirement plan administrator how to pay it out. Another option is to determine the present value of the retirement account and include the value into the asset division. This option is less commonly done because the present day value is generally lower than what the value would be at retirement, but it could be an option to get the money faster.

Here is some general information divorce in STATE from our WomensLaw.org website in case it is helpful, although it won’t discuss this specific topic: LINK And if you want legal advice or representation, here is a link for lawyers, some of which may be free or low-cost if you qualify:LINK