What Must I Do to Protect Myself During the Divorce Proceeding for My Entitlement's to my Husband's Pension(s)?
Posted on Apr 9, 2014 2:00pm PDT
Q. Vanessa W. from Columbus, OH asks: "What Must I Do to Protect Myself During the Divorce Proceeding for My Entitlement's
to my Husband's Pension(s)?"
A. Evan from Pension Evaluators & QDROS Of Troyan, Inc Associates Group, answers: "In order to receive a portion of your husband's pension(s),
you must include language in your settlement agreement per your jurisdiction
delineating your entitlements to his deferred pay programs.
The court should then award you a share as part of the divorce or legal
separation proceeding.
If your husband has more than one pension (for instance a 401(k) plan and
a traditional pension), your settlement must refer to each plan in order
to get benefits from both.
You should obtain as much information as possible from your husband's
company benefits office. Under the law, you are a beneficiary with the
right to receive the information. However, it is frequent that the pension
plan will not send the information without the direct written authorization
signed by the pensioned spouse per the Patriot Act.
We suggest that upon our retention we be permitted to notify the pension
plan administrator in writing that you are in the process of a divorce
in order to prevent the plan from paying out your share of the pension
to your husband before the divorce is finalized."
Evan Edelstein
Lead QDRO Writer
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