<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Terri:
Indiana divorce final in May. His employer sent me a letter in June saying they had rec'd the QDRO and were reviewing it. To date they still have not set aside the 50% of 401K & stock plan that I am to receive. How long do these things usually take, and can they legally take as long as they want? This was a very quick, simple, agreeable divorce.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
My response:
It may have been "quick, simple and agreeable", but that's not the point. You're dealing with a State Court Order that must be reviewed for a determination of compliance with Federal Law. Whether a domestic relations order constitutes a QDRO is determined by the plan administrator (subject to review in state or federal court). The administrator has up to 18 months to make this decision, which runs from the date the payments are due to commence (in the interim, amounts subject to the order are to be held for the benefit of the alternate payee, or the person to whom they otherwise would be payable if the order is not a QDRO) To preserve priority rights against potential future QDRO conflicting claims, the alternate payee (spouse or child) should submit the domestic relations order to the plan administrator immediately after it is issued and also request an immediate QDRO determination. In fact, as earlier noted, a sensible precautionary tactic in all cases is to submit a proposed QDRO to the plan administrator for an advance review. (To prevent disappointments under the "first in time" rule, an alternate payee should submit the domestic relations order to the plan administrator as soon as it is issued; and request an immediate QDRO determination.) If a domestic relations property division order meets ERISA's QDRO requirements, the plan administrator must honor it even though the administrator thinks the order violates state law. [Blue v. UAL Corp. (7th Cir. 1998) 160 F.3d 383, 385-386--"Far better to let the states' appellate courts take care of legal errors by trial judges"]
Good luck.
IAAL
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