Читать книгу Rightfully Yours - Gary A. Shulman - Страница 18

Susan divorced Jim in 1997. As part of their property settlement agreement, she was awarded 50 percent of Jim’s pension benefits through his employer starting when Jim retires. No QDRO was ever prepared and in 1999, unknown to Susan, Jim accepted an early retirement buy-out offer from his company, which pays him $4,000 a month for life. He also elected to receive his benefits in the form of a single life annuity, which means that on his death, all benefit payments will cease. It wasn’t until July 2002 that Susan found out about Jim’s retirement years earlier. When she contacted the plan to inquire about her 50 percent share of the pension, she was told that no QDRO had ever been submitted to the company. Susan contacted an attorney to draft a QDRO today that would give her 50 percent of Jim’s monthly pension benefits. Although it is certainly not too late to draft a QDRO (because Jim is still alive and receiving a pension), Susan will find out that certain restrictions are imposed on QDROs drafted after someone retires. For example, it is now too late for her to receive retroactive pension payments that date back to the time of Jim’s retirement almost four years ago. Remember, had a QDRO been drafted in a timely manner when they divorced, Susan would have started to receive her share of the pension in 1999, when Jim retired.

But more of a loss is the fact that it is too late to provide Susan with a guaranteed lifetime of pension income. Because Jim had already retired and elected a single life annuity, Susan can only receive her share of the benefits for as long as Jim is alive and receiving a pension. Once Jim dies, Susan’s share of the pension will also stop. Again, had a QDRO been prepared before Jim’s retirement, it could have provided Susan with a pension for the rest of her life. Now, she can only hope that her ex-husband lives a long life so that she can continue to get her half of the pension.