Читать книгу Rightfully Yours - Gary A. Shulman - Страница 15

Repeat after me: “Q-D-R-O.” Say it five times, fast: “QDRO, QDRO, QDRO, QDRO, QDRO.” While your ex-husband is now yelling “STELLA,” you should be yelling out the window at 4 a.m.: “QDRO!” Enough already. Why do you have to learn about this legal mumbo-jumbo when you’re not an attorney? Well, most of you don’t even realize that you already know some legalese. Take the word alimony, for example. In Black’s Law Dictionary, it can be found between the words Alimenta and A l’impossible nul n’est tenu. It comes from the Latin alimonia, meaning sustenance, and stems from the common-law right of the wife to support by her husband. Most divorced spouses know what the word alimony means. But very few women have ever heard of a QDRO, which is short for Qualified Domestic Relations Order.

If your ex-husband, or soon-to-be ex-husband, worked at any time during the marriage for a company that had a pension plan or 401(k) plan, you had better become very familiar with the word QDRO. Similarly, if your “ex” now works for a company that sponsors a pension plan or 401(k) for its employees, this could be the gold mine that you have been waiting for if he owes you past-due child support or alimony. Your future economic security could depend on it. A few horror stories will help illustrate the point. If you decide not to read this entire book, make sure that you at least read the following three true stories. (Names have been changed to protect the ignorant.)