[sbond]

I have State retirement acct. to which I contribute monthly out of my pay check. Once I reach "the rule of 85" (my number of years with the company and my age equal 850), I can retire. My employer has a formula to determine my monthly pension based on the highest salary for three years and offers a lifetime payment. My husband is wanting to get some of my retirement in the divorce settlement and it seems my attorney is unclear on what the asset amount is of my pension. She has not mentioned "Quadro order" but a friend said she had this when she divorced. Can you explain how the value of my pension would be fairly determined and if Quadro order is something I would need. Thanks, sb

[GV70]

Ugh... do you mean QDRO /Qualified Domestic Relations Order /
A QDRO, properly done, divides the account into two separate accounts, one for each party. Therefore, there are no taxable ramifications of the division, only taxable ramifications when money is withdrawn (distributed). There can be some specific exception to that, like railroad retirement, which has a social security element, but those exceptions are relatively few.

A “qualified domestic relations order" is an order that needs to be included in a divorce agreement when dealing with pension funds. The QDRO establishes your soon-to-be-ex-spouse's legal right to receive a designated percentage of your qualified plan account balance or benefit payments.

A QDRO may be used to divide the pension plan as a marital asset, or to pay alimony .
The portion of your retirement plan that's considered "marital property" might be subject to division. What your state considers as marital property, and how it divides marital property, will be determined by your state law
You should consult a tax professional with divorce case experience to make sure all the required bells and whistles get included. Obviously, this must happen before the divorce papers are finalized.

[GV70]

Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin will division begin at 50-50 if the marriage ends in divorce. These are the only states that now have community property laws.

Other states have Equitable Distribution requirements.
"Equitable" does not mean "Equal"