Section 16.20 Separate Interest Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
Library | Family Law Deskbook and 2014 Supp |
b. (§16.20) Separate Interest Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
A “separate interest” QDRO is a QDRO in which the alternate payee’s interest is more personal and holds substantially less risk of forfeiture or termination. The separate interest QDRO also affords more flexibility for the alternate payee. In addition, from the perspective of the plan administrator, the separate interest QDRO is most advantageous if the plan document provides for immediate distribution of the alternate payee’s interest, which is most often found in defined contribution plans. By effectuating a QDRO that would provide the alternate payee the option of immediate distribution, either in a lump-sum distribution form or benefit or rollover to an IRA in the name of the transferee spouse, or as soon as is practicable under the plan’s administrative practices, the plan administrator simply has one less account to administer and safeguard.
When a division of a qualified plan is made under a QDRO, it is important for the court or the parties to specify the date on which the division is to be effective. This is particularly true within the context of separate interest QDROs, but the need for date specificity is also crucial in a stream of payments QDRO.
If the date-of-division language is nonexistent or is otherwise ambiguous, unanticipated results can occur. See, e.g., Riener v. Riener, 926 S.W.2d 6 (Mo. App. E.D. 1996). It is important that the judgment decree or marital settlement agreement be clear as to the division date as well as whether the alternate payee is entitled to share in earnings or losses, contributions, and forfeitures. Once the division scheme is clear to both parties, care should be taken to ensure that the division...
To continue reading
Request your trial- Books and Journals
- Section 16.1 Introduction
- Section 16.2 Types of Deferred Compensation
- Section 16.3 Federal Qualified Retirement Plans; Defined Contribution Plans and Defined Benefit Plans
- Section 16.4 Defined Contribution Plan
- Section 16.5 Defined Benefit Plan
- Section 16.6 Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Arrangements
- Section 16.7 Plans of Federal, State, and Local Governments and Exempt Organizations
- Section 16.8 Individual or Self-Employed Retirement Plans
- Section 16.9 Deferred Compensation as Property: Marital or Nonmarital Property
- Section 16.10 Stage I—Vested Versus Unvested Benefits
- Section 16.11 Stage II—Vested But Unmatured Benefits
- Section 16.12 Stage III—Vested and Matured Benefits
- Section 16.13 Necessity for Valuation
- Section 16.14 Valuation Assumptions
- Section 16.15 Marital and Nonmarital Interests
- Section 16.16 Tax Implications in Valuation
- Section 16.17 Statutory Overview
- Section 16.18 Two Basic Types of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
- Section 16.19 Stream of Payments Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
- Section 16.20 Separate Interest Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
- Section 16.21 Qualified Domestic Relations Order Information-Gathering and Drafting Process
- Section 16.22 Qualified Domestic Relations Order Review Process
- Section 16.23 Implementation of the Qualified Domestic Relations Order
- Section 16.24 Earliest Retirement Age Rule
- Section 16.25 Designation of the Alternate Payee as Surviving Spouse
- Section 16.26 Tax Treatment of Distributions
- Section 16.27 Timing of Distributions
- Section 16.28 Civil Employees
- Section 16.29 Military Retirement Benefits
- Section 16.30 Railroad Retirement Benefits
- Section 16.31 Social Security Benefits
- Section 16.32 Plans of State and Local Governments
- Section 16.33 Plans of Tax-Exempt Organizations and Church Plans
- Section 16.34 Individual Retirement Accounts
- Section 16.35 Disability Benefits
Subscribers can access the reported version of this case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the cited cases and legislation of a document.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the documents that have cited the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see the revised versions of legislation with amendments.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see any amendments made to the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a visualisation of a case and its relationships to other cases. An alternative to lists of cases, the Precedent Map makes it easier to establish which ones may be of most relevance to your research and prioritise further reading. You also get a useful overview of how the case was received.

Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see the list of results connected to your document through the topics and citations Vincent found.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.