Читать книгу Rightfully Yours - Gary A. Shulman - Страница 7

Don’t confuse your property rights with alimony or spousal support. When a domestic relations court grants you a portion of your ex-husband’s pension benefits at divorce, it is merely assigning to you a piece of property that you already own. In the court’s eyes, half of the pension benefits earned during the marriage are already yours. It just takes a QDRO to secure your property right. Your property interest in your ex-husband’s pension is not considered alimony or spousal support. It belongs to you just as your ex-husband’s share of the pension belongs to him. However, it is critical that your divorce decree include language that awards you a portion of your ex-husband’s pension benefits. Even though the court considers you to be a co-owner of the pension, your share is not automatic by any means. If your attorney has not already done so, he or she should negotiate the division of your ex-husband’s pension benefits during the divorce proceeding. Then your divorce decree or separation agreement should include language that expressly awards you a portion of his pension benefits. And finally, your attorney should prepare a QDRO for submission to your ex-husband’s employer. This is necessary to secure your property interest in the pension benefits.

Any alimony or support payments (child support or spousal support) that may be granted to you at divorce are separate and distinct from the property rights granted to you at divorce. Unlike alimony or spousal support, which provides you with immediate and perhaps only temporary support after the divorce, you will generally not be eligible to receive your share of the pension benefits until your ex-husband is eligible to retire. But in many cases, depending on the type of pension plan involved, you can start receiving your share of the pension either immediately or before he actually retires. And your share of any defined contribution plan benefits (such as a 401(k) plan) can generally be paid to you immediately once the QDRO has been approved by the plan administrator.