QDRO - What is a QDRO?

QDRO is an acronym that stands for Qualified Domestic Relations Order.


Qualified Domestic Relations Orders are formal legal documents usually drawn up by attorneys specializing in that field. The QDRO provides for the division of property after a divorce.

Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act or ERISA § 206(d)(3)(B)(i); IRC § 414(p)(1)(A) A qualified domestic relation order is a domestic relations order that creates or recognizes the existence of an alternate payee's right to receive, or assigns to an alternate payee the right to receive, all or a portion of the benefits payable with respect to a participant under a pension plan, and that includes certain information and meets certain other requirements.

Obtaining a qualified domestic relations order can be a tedious and time consuming process.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans.

There are lawyers who specialize in the creation and approval of QDROs. Selection of the right QDRO Attorney can make the process of getting your Qualified Domestic Relations Order approved go much smoother.
A state authority, generally a court, must actually issue a judgment, order, or decree or otherwise formally approve a property settlement agreement before it can be a domestic relations order under ERISA. The mere fact that a property settlement is agreed to and signed by the parties will not, in and of itself, cause the agreement to be a domestic relations order.

Pension plans are not permitted or required to follow the terms of domestic relations orders purporting to assign pension benefits unless they are QDROs.

For purposes of the QDRO provisions, an alternate payee cannot be anyone other than a spouse, former spouse, child, or other dependent of a participant.



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