Division II · Retirement Plans
Part 12. QDROs and Division of Retirement Benefits
This Part covers division of retirement benefits in divorce and support matters: QDRO qualification (ERISA §206(d)(3); Code §414(p)), plan QDRO procedures, determinations, segregation, and the administrator's fiduciary role; posthumous/successive orders (29 C.F.R. §2530.206); DB separate-vs-shared-interest design and DC division formats; death, remarriage, and survivor treatment; taxation of awards (§402(e)(1)(A), §72(t)(2)(C), child-support orders); competing beneficiaries (Boggs/Egelhoff/Kennedy); and the non-ERISA regimes — IRAs (§408(d)(6)), TSP, FERS/CSRS, military retired pay, railroad retirement, and Arizona governmental plans (ASRS, PSPRS/CORP/EORP, TSRS, Nationwide 457(b)).
Chapters
Chapter 1. QDRO Qualification and Plan Administration
This chapter covers the ERISA/Code QDRO framework: the anti-alienation exception, the §414(p) qualification requirements, the plan administrator's determination procedures and fiduciary role, the 18-month segregation rule, the timing rules for posthumous and successive orders (29 C.F.R. §2530.206), and PBGC-trusteed plans.
Law stated as of October 3, 2026
Chapter 2. DB and DC Division Design and Drafting
This chapter covers the design layer of retirement-benefit division, drawing on primary authority and on the Firm's QDRO drafting practice: the defined contribution division formats (valuation dates, gains/losses, loans, premarital money), the defined benefit approaches (separate interest vs.
Law stated as of October 3, 2026
Chapter 3. QDRO Taxation, Special Regimes, and Competing Claims
This chapter covers the taxation of QDRO awards (including the child-support inversion), the non-ERISA division regimes (IRAs, governmental plans, TSP, FERS/CSRS, military retired pay, railroad retirement — each with its own order type, agency, and traps), and the competing-beneficiary doctrine (Boggs, Egelhoff, Kennedy, and the plan-documents rule).
Law stated as of October 3, 2026
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