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QDRO Drafting Strategies Avoiding Pitfalls That Result in Unintended - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Presenting a live 90-minute webinar with interactive Q&A QDRO Drafting Strategies Avoiding Pitfalls That Result in Unintended Loss of Retirement Plan Benefits TUES DAY, JUNE 5, 2012 1pm East ern | 12pm Cent ral | 11am Mount ain


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SLIDE 1

QDRO Drafting Strategies

Avoiding Pitfalls That Result in Unintended Loss of Retirement Plan Benefits

Today’s faculty features:

1pm East ern | 12pm Cent ral | 11am Mount ain | 10am Pacific

The audio portion of the conference may be accessed via the telephone or by using your computer's

  • speakers. Please refer to the instructions emailed to registrants for additional information. If you

have any questions, please contact Customer Service at 1-800-926-7926 ext. 10.

TUES DAY, JUNE 5, 2012

Presenting a live 90-minute webinar with interactive Q&A

Carolyn A. D'Agostino, Attorney, Law Office of Carolyn A. D'Agostino, Albany, N.Y . Emily Widmann McBurney, S hareholder, Kegel McBurney LLC, Atlanta Pamela D. Perdue, Of Counsel, Summers Compton Wells, S

  • t. Louis
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SLIDE 2

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SLIDE 3

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SLIDE 4

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SLIDE 5

Introduction

Carolyn A. D'Agostino, Attorney, Law Office of Carolyn A. D'Agostino, Albany, N.Y. Emily Widmann McBurney, Shareholder, Kegel McBurney, Atlanta Pamela D. Perdue, Of Counsel, Summers Compton Wells, St. Louis

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SLIDE 6

1) Pension Negotiation Strategies and a Checklist for Agreements: Carolyn A. D’Agostino, Esq.

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SLIDE 7

2) QDRO Drafting Issues and Pitfalls: Emily Widmann McBurney, Esq.

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SLIDE 8

3) Reviewing Draft QDROs: A Plan’s Perspective: Pamela D. Purdue, Esq.

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SLIDE 9

4) Best Practice Tips 5) Q&A (time permitting)

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SLIDE 10

Pension Negotiation Strategies and a Checklist for Agreements Carolyn A. D'Agostino, Esq.

21 Everett Road Ext. Albany, NY 12205 (518)489-1098

10

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SLIDE 11

Why is the negotiation of retirement benefits a minefield for the matrimonial attorney?

 Must be in the Agreement to be assured of spouse

  • btaining the benefit.

 Pension may be the only asset in the marriage of any

value.

 Offset may not be in your client's best interest.  Attorneys must be aware of pension valuation

concepts before negotiating any type of retirement division.

11

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SLIDE 12

Methods of Division

 Lump Sum Buyout  Asset Swap  Deferred Distribution 12

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SLIDE 13

Pension Terminology:

 Understand the differences between types of

retirement assets and the vocabulary used to divide them.

13

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SLIDE 14

Defined Benefit “DB” Plans

 Traditional pension plan  Participant's benefit is calculated to a specific

formula

 Participants do not have an “account” or an

“account balance.”

 Accrues more value at the end of the

participant's career

14

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SLIDE 15

DB Plans Terminology:

 Accrued Benefit:

− Monthly payment that the participant can expect to

receive at his or her normal retirement date.

− calculated according to a formula which generally uses

salary and years of service as components.

 Earliest Retirement Age:

− Earliest age that Participant can receive a (reduced)

benefit

 Normal Retirement Age

− Age at which Participant can receive an unreduced

benefit

15

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SLIDE 16

Vesting

 The amount of service credit an employee must

accrue before being guaranteed a benefit upon retirement.

 Valuation of an unvested pension is highly

  • speculative. Present value of pension will be

further reduced to reflect the probability that the pension will not vest.

16

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SLIDE 17

Subsidies, Supplements, and Other Benefit Enhancements

 Early retirement subsidies  Early retirement incentives in the form of additional

service,

 COLAS 17

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SLIDE 18

Defined Contribution Plans

 401(a), 401(k), 403(b), 457 plans  Retirement is in the form of an individual

account balance.

 Employer may or may not make matching or

periodic contributions.

 Employee compensation is tax-deferred until

retirement or (in some cases) separation from service

18

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SLIDE 19

DC Plans Terminology

 Account Balance

− The value of benefits as of a specified valuation date

under a defined contribution plan.

− May consist of one or more subaccounts. − May be invested in one or more investment funds. − How are these funds being invested by the

Participant?

− Is the account balance encumbered by loans? − Pre-marital account balance?

19

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SLIDE 20

DC Plans:

 Employer Contributions: allocation of employer

contributions made to account after the date of commencement, but which may relate back to pre- commencement employment.

 Example: Company pays its 401k contribution in

December, but parties split in June. Be sure to allocate this anticipated contribution when negotiating alternate payee's share.

20

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SLIDE 21

Investment Experience

 Who will bear the risk of loss of value?  Will the Plan make this calculation?  Pre Marital Contributions and Gain/Loss  Post Marital investment experience  What to do in a volatile market? 21

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SLIDE 22

Methods of Valuation

 Tracing method  Value Difference (subtraction)  Fractional shares  Use of a stipulated rate of return 22

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SLIDE 23

Tracing

 Most accurate  Pre-marital contributions and earnings on contributions  Contributions made during marriage and gains/losses

  • n those contributions

 Calculate aggregate rate of return from date of

marriage until date of cut-off

 Date of cut-off until date of plan distribution = total

marital portion.

 Time weighted: ex. Marital contributions in first year of

marriage have largest return due to compounding.

23

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Tracing, cont'd

 Post marital losses: how are they to be

allocated?

 Trace losses from date of cut-off

(commencement of action) to date of valuation

 Look at aggregate rate of return from date of

cut-off to date of valuation by plan.

24

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SLIDE 25

Subtraction Method

 Pre-Marital account balance subtracted from

total as of Date of Commencement

 Net amount divided 50/50, with gains/losses to

date of distribution

 Assigns all of pre-marital gain to marital portion 25

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SLIDE 26

Coverture Method

 Applies coverture to proportionately divide

account balance to marital and non-marital components

 Least accurate method, generally not

appropriate to divide a DC plan unless data is unavailable

 Assumes that contributions pre-marriage were

at the same rate as contributions during marriage.

26

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SLIDE 27

Risk

 Gains/Loss: in a declining market, failure to

include G/L in Agreement puts risk of loss on Participant

 In bullish market, Participant would bear all of

the gain.

 Who bears the risk? 27

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SLIDE 28

Cash Balance Plans

 Hybrid between DB and DC plan  Benefits expressed as “account balance”  Employee receives “credits” each year, often tied to

salary

 Employee may also receive “interest credits”  At retirement, the “account balance” is converted into an

  • annuity. Lump sum payout possible

28

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SLIDE 29

Valuation and Division of Cash Balance Plans:

 Will be much lower than DB plan valuation (because in

a DB plan most of the value accrues in the last few years before retirement).

 Value at Date of Commencement will be more accurate

“snapshot” of spouse's share at retirement

29

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SLIDE 30

IRAs

 Same Valuation issues as DC Plans  IRA Administrators generally will NOT calculate investment

gain/loss.

 May need to trace IRAs moved or rolled into other IRAs.

Very difficult to assess pre-marital portion if separate accounts have not been kept.

 Better tax implication for AP if IRA amount is pulled from

the 401K or other qualified plan

30

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SLIDE 31

Benefits of Immediate Offset:

− Spouse will receive other marital assets of

comparable value.

− Parties are better able to disentangle financial

affairs

− Spouse can build and pass on an estate with the

assets received

− If Spouse is ill or older, deferred distribution is of

no benefit

31

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SLIDE 32

Immediate Offset, cont'd

− Spouse may beat the Plan by investing the lump

  • sum. Any investment which outperforms the discount

rate will result in a greater benefit for the Spouse.

− Spouse may need cash. − Age differences between spouses: AP is

significantly older than P; deferred distribution may not make sense

32

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SLIDE 33

Deferred Distribution via QDRO

− AP will obtain a lifetime stream of payments − Coverture fraction will allow for inflationary protection for

AP

− Guaranteed source of income in retirement years − Risk (or lack thereof) associated with the pension is

shared between the parties.

− Spreads different growth rates of different types of

retirement assets between the parties.

− May not be enough other assets in marital estate for

  • ffset to occur.

33

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SLIDE 34

Actual Realities

 Leaving aside actuarial assumptions, assess

the following case-by-case:

− Health of Participant and Spouse − How long has Participant worked in the covered employment? − Is Participant likely to stay in the covered employment until

retirement age?

− Does the Plan change the benefit calculation formula the

greater the years of service in the Plan?

− What is the Participant's likelihood of future salary increases? Is

he or she on a fast track?

− If the Participant takes early retirement, how much of a

reduction in benefit will be imposed by the Plan?

34

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SLIDE 35

Defined Benefit Methods of Division:

 Coverture

− Marital portion of the pension is determined by

multiplying the accrued monthly benefit by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of months of service accrued in the plan during the marriage and the denominator is the total service in the plan as of the date that benefit accruals ceased.

− Each spouse gets 50% multiplied by the “marital

portion” as determined by coverture.

35

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SLIDE 36

“Frozen” Coverture: Beware!

− Benefit calculated and frozen as of date of

commencement.

− No inflationary protection for alternate payee. − Benefit to participant: shelters future increments to

salary post-divorce from alternate payee

− Ex.: P’s attorney wants salary and service to be set at

date of commencement levels.

36

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SLIDE 37

Getting the Money Out:

− Do not assume an immediate distribution is possible. − QDRO should state that Alternate Payee should be

entitled to receive benefits in any available option under the plan, including a lump sum distribution, if permitted, but should not require lump sum distribution.

− Direct Rollover or Payment to AP (IRC Section 72:

QDRO allows payment to AP without penalty – AP can pay expenses, then put remainder into an IRA)

37

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SLIDE 38

Client Relations:

− Was client advised of necessity of pension valuation

(if client declined, get disclaimer)

− explain deferred distribution vs. immediate offset − Effect of remarriage before 55 (federal and military) − Effect of actuarial reductions − Forfeiture scenarios explained − Disability issues discussed and addressed? − Risk of Delaying QDRO filing explained

38

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SLIDE 39

QDRO Drafting Issues and Pitfalls

Emily W. McBurney Kegel McBurney LLC Atlanta, Georgia Emily@kegelmcburney.com

39

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SLIDE 40

The Sooner, the Better

  • Get information about the retirement plans

early – during the negotiation process.

  • Do not finalize an Agreement or go to trial

without understanding the type of benefits involved.

40

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SLIDE 41

Find Out:

  • Type of Plan (Defined contribution?

Defined benefit? Cash Balance? IRA?)

  • Qualified? Non-qualified? Government?
  • Full legal name of the Plan
  • Account statement / benefit summary

41

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SLIDE 42

Defined Contribution Plan

  • Employee and employer contribute to a specific

account for employee

  • Account value fluctuates with the investments

within it

  • The amount of the contributions is what is

“defined” Example: 401(k) Plan

42

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SLIDE 43

Defined Benefit Plan

  • No specific account for employee
  • Benefit based on years of service and

salary

  • The amount of benefits is what is “defined”

Example: traditional pension plan

43

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SLIDE 44

Cash Balance Plan

  • Hybrid of Defined Contribution and

Defined Benefit Plan

44

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SLIDE 45

Contrary to popular belief, you do NOT need a QDRO to divide an IRA.

  • Trustee-to-trustee transfer pursuant to a

decree of divorce or written instrument (such as a settlement agreement) incident to a divorce under 26 U.S.C.A § 408(d)(6).

  • Copy of divorce decree and Settlement

Agreement, plus a letter of instruction or form from institution should suffice to transfer IRA funds.

45

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Qualified v. Non-Qualified Plans

Non-Qualified Plans are:

  • Not subject to ERISA
  • Usually NOT divisible by QDRO (but a few do

permit division by DRO)

  • Generally unfunded and not secured (at risk if

company goes bankrupt)

  • Not guaranteed
  • Subject to conditions (such as continued

employment)

46

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SLIDE 47

Non-Qualified Plans have terms in their names such as:

  • Supplemental
  • SERP
  • Non-qualified
  • Excess Benefit

47

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SLIDE 48
  • Many state and local government

retirement plans are simply not divisible – confirm this in advance.

  • Federal government and military

retirement plans are divisible, but not subject to ERISA. Subject to very complex and specific rules – do not attempt to do this without experience or expert advice

48

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SLIDE 49
  • Full legal name of the Plan can provide a

lot of information about the type of Plan.

  • Account statements can also reveal

important information about the nature of the Plan, the benefits, existence of loans, survivor designations, and restrictions.

49

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SLIDE 50

Contact the Plan Administrator and get QDRO procedures and model order.

Find contact information:

  • On account statements
  • At http://freeerisa.benefitspro.com
  • From employee
  • It often takes several phone calls to get to the

person who handles QDROs for the Plan.

50

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SLIDE 51

Model Orders

  • Helpful tool or gateway to malpractice
  • Plan cannot require you to use the model
  • Attorneys should never blindly use the model –

have to be sure that the model will provide the benefits as awarded in the divorce.

  • Online QDRO generating systems (Fidelity,

Hewitt) can be a great way to streamline the process – but there are pitfalls if the case does not fit the template.

51

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SLIDE 52

Prepare a draft QDRO and send to Plan Administrator to review before sending to court.

  • Some large QDRO processors will not

review drafts (e.g., Fidelity).

  • Follow up once a month for response.

52

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SLIDE 53

Issues that must be addressed in QDRO:

  • Date of division
  • Earnings and losses (defined contribution

plans)

  • Loans (defined contribution plans)
  • Surviving spouse benefits (most important

for defined benefit plans)

53

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SLIDE 54

Date of division:

As of what date are the benefits to be divided?

  • Date of divorce?
  • Date of separation?
  • Date of Agreement?
  • Date of retirement?
  • Any other date?

54

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SLIDE 55

Earnings and losses

(defined contribution plans only)

  • Will the Alternate Payee’s benefit be

adjusted for earnings and losses between the date of division and the date of distribution?

  • This makes a BIG difference – especially

in volatile markets.

  • Must be specified in the QDRO.

55

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SLIDE 56

QDRO must indicate whether loans will be included or excluded from calculation of benefit awarded.

56

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SLIDE 57

Surviving spouse benefits:

  • MUST be addressed – especially for

defined benefit plans.

  • Distinction between pre- and post-

retirement survivor benefits – BOTH must be addressed or result could be contrary to the parties’ intent.

57

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SLIDE 58
  • After the draft QDRO has been approved

by the Plan Administrator, have the parties sign it as a consent order if possible.

  • Obtain certified copies from the court and

send to the Plan Administrator.

58

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SLIDE 59

Follow up with the Plan Administrator!

NEVER close your file until you have confirmation that the QDRO has been approved and implemented. You should receive a formal letter from the Plan. Read the letter and make sure it is consistent with the intent of the QDRO!

59

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SLIDE 60

For a defined contribution plan, confirmation might only come from your client – that the funds have been transferred to the client (or from the client’s account). For a defined benefit plan, you must have a letter. Keep a copy of the letter! It may need to be produced 20 years from now if the Plan claims there was no QDRO (after the Participant dies or retires).

60

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SLIDE 61

REVIEWING DRAFT QDROS: A PLAN’S PERSPECTIVE

Pamela D. Perdue Summers, Compton & Wells, P.C.

  • St. Louis, Missouri;

ppperdue@summerscomptonwells.com

Summers Compton Wells 61

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SLIDE 62

What the Plan Looks for:

 Does it satisfy the requirements to

constitute a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), and

 Can the Plan comply without running afoul

  • f its own provisions

Summers Compton Wells 62

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SLIDE 63

What the Plan Looks for:

To constitute a QDRO, the order must:

satisfy a list of Dos, and

avoid a list of Don’ts

Summers Compton Wells 63

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SLIDE 64

Dos to be a QDRO

In order for a Domestic Relations Order (DRO) to be a QDRO, the DRO must:

  • 1. assign all or part of the Participant’s

vested account or benefit to an Alternate Payee (AP)

  • 2. relate to the provision of child support,

alimony or marital property rights;

Summers Compton Wells 64

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SLIDE 65

Dos to be a QDRO

  • 3. specify name and mailing address of

both Participant and AP

  • 4. specify amount to be paid to AP, and
  • 5. identify Plan to which DRO is directed

[ERISA Section 206(d)(3)]

Summers Compton Wells 65

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SLIDE 66

Who is an AP

 AP limited to spouse, former spouse,

child or other dependent of Participant

  • If order requires payment to anyone
  • ther than a bona fide AP, Plan will

not approve as QDRO

Summers Compton Wells 66

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SLIDE 67

What the Plan Looks for:

Limited to AP EX: DRO requires plan to pay 50% of Participant’s vested account to former spouse, plus $10,000 to spouse’s attorney. Plan Rejects—order requires payment to someone other than an AP

Summers Compton Wells 67

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SLIDE 68

What the Plan Looks for:

Limited to AP Authority, however, for approval of DRO requiring payment to various state child support agencies [see, e.g., Advisory Opinion 2002-03A, 06/07/2002; Advisory Opinion 2001-06A, 06/01/2001]

Summers Compton Wells 68

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SLIDE 69

What the Plan Looks for:

Limited to AP EX: Order provides that any benefit assigned to the AP which remains unpaid on AP’s death is to go to the AP’s new spouse in a lump sum. Many plans will reject for non-AP qualifying

  • beneficiary. Law is unsettled. Consult with

individual plan before specifying.

Summers Compton Wells 69

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SLIDE 70

What the Plan Looks for:

Must specify payments EX: DRO directs calendar year Pension Plan to assign 50% of Marital Portion of Participant’s vested benefit. Marital portion specified as determined using fraction with “marital participation from 1/1/1992 to 7/31/2010—a total of 211 months.”

Summers Compton Wells 70

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SLIDE 71

What the Plan Looks for:

 Must specify payments

Plan rejects based upon failure to specify amount to be paid or clear manner to determine Conflict between fractional participation formula(i.e., January 1, 1992—7/31/2010 which is actually 223 months) and DRO’s specification of 211 months.

Summers Compton Wells 71

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SLIDE 72

What the Plan Looks for

EX: DRO provides for payment to AP “on or after the Participant attains the earliest retirement age under the Plan.” However, the order fails to define the term “earliest retirement age.” Plan Rejects—Could mean Earliest Retirement Age as defined in the Code, or could intend reference to plan’s early retirement age or something else

Summers Compton Wells 72

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SLIDE 73

Avoid the Don’ts

 In all events, DRO will fail to constitute a

QDRO if the order:

  • 1. requires a type, form or option not

allowed under the Plan;

  • 2. requires the Plan to provide increased

benefits, or

  • 3. requires payment of benefits that infringe
  • n an earlier AP’s rights to benefit

Summers Compton Wells 73

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SLIDE 74

What the Plan Looks for:

Type, form or option not allowed under Plan EX:

Small Plan with a single valuation date receives a DRO requiring division on date

  • f divorce—which is not a Plan valuation

date. Plan rejects –order requires a type or form

  • r option not otherwise allowed under the

Plan.

Summers Compton Wells 74

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SLIDE 75

What the Plan Looks for:

Type, form or option not allowed under Plan EX:

DRO purports to assign 50% of the “plan value on August 31, 2010 plus gains.” Plan Rejects—DRO purports to assign more than the Participant’s vested account

Summers Compton Wells 75

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SLIDE 76

What the Plan Looks for:

EX: DRO states that AP shall be entitled to all of the rights, benefits and options to which the Participant would be entitled. Plan Rejects—technically AP has the status of a beneficiary not a participant under the law. Plan terms may grant lesser rights to beneficiary than to Participant.

Summers Compton Wells 76

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SLIDE 77

Changes to be Aw are of:

 Until recently, courts were divided as to the

legitimacy of an order as a QDRO issued nunc pro tunc

 Subsequent legislation revised rules  Now, DRO can be a QDRO even though it

amends a prior QDRO or even if issued after the death of the Participant. [Labor

  • Reg. Section 2530.206(b)(2), Ex. 1; Labor
  • Reg. Section 2530.206(c)(2), Ex. 1]

Summers Compton Wells 77

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SLIDE 78

Best Practices

Pamela D. Perdue Summers Compton Wells Emily Widmann McBurney Kegel McBurney LLC Carolyn A. D'Agostino Law Office of Carolyn A. D'Agostino

Summers Compton Wells 78

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SLIDE 79

Best Practice Tips

 Before drafting, ask for the Plan’s QDRO

information and Summary Plan Description

  • More plans than you are aware will contain

special provisions allowing immediate distribution to an AP

 Omit unnecessary tax information--Many

Plans will reject DRO that contain incorrect tax information.

Summers Compton Wells 79

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SLIDE 80

Best Practice Tips

 Avoid drafting your DRO using

provisions found in litigation

  • Often the provisions are either completely

inappropriate for the plan at hand or cause the DRO to be internally inconsistent

Summers Compton Wells 80

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SLIDE 81

Best Practice Tips

 Where the Participant’s account balance

includes the value of a loan, please be clear in drafting as to how the loan is to be treated is the loan included or excluded in determining the underlying value of the account; is the loan included or excluded for purposes of assigning distribution to the AP

Summers Compton Wells 81

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SLIDE 82

Best Practice Tips

 Please specify what the Plan is to do in the

various “what if” events

  • what if the Participant dies before qualification

as a QDRO or before distribution to the AP?

  • what if the AP dies before qualification as a

QDRO or before distribution to the AP?

Summers Compton Wells 82

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SLIDE 83

Best Practice Tips

 If one party is to not bear any future

losses, the DRO MUST be drafted to ensure that no other participant under the Plan not party to the DRO could be adversely affected

Summers Compton Wells 83

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SLIDE 84

Best Practice Tips

 Have your draft DRO approved by the

Plan before approval by the court

Summers Compton Wells 84

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SLIDE 85

Best Practices

Emily W. McBurney Kegel McBurney LLC Atlanta, Georgia Emily@kegelmcburney.com

85

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SLIDE 86

Best practice tips:

Check in advance whether the Plan will charge an administrative fee (defined contribution plans

  • nly) to review the QDRO. Specify in the

Settlement Agreement whether this fee will be split between the parties, or if one party will be solely responsible for the administrative fee. The Plan will have a default for how the fee will be paid if the QDRO is silent, but you can generally have the fee handled differently if it is set forth in the QDRO.

86

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SLIDE 87

Best practice tips:

Review the model order in advance (during negotiation). You can often save a lot of money by tailoring the division of the retirement so that you can use the model

  • rder and make the QDRO process go

more smoothly and without excess administrative fees.

87

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SLIDE 88

Best practice tips:

Do NOT put the parties’ Social Security Numbers in QDROs – even if the model

  • rder indicates that this is required.

Insert “will be provided to the Plan Administrator under separate cover” in the line for SSNs, and include the SSNs in your cover letter when you submit the

  • QDRO. Same is true for birthdates.

88

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SLIDE 89

Best practice tips:

Do NOT have a non-lawyer handle a QDRO. A

QDRO is a legal document that must be prepared by a lawyer or risks being considered the unlicensed practice of law. Non-lawyers are not subject to malpractice and not bound by attorney-client confidentiality and other ethics

  • rules. Find a specialist to prepare the QDRO if

you don’t handle them regularly. There is a huge malpractice risk in this field. An attorney who refers a client to a non-lawyer to handle the QDRO may be subject to malpractice claims if the non-lawyer makes a mistake – even if the lawyer had no involvement with the QDRO.

89

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SLIDE 90

Best Practices Carolyn A. D'Agostino, Esq.

21 Everett Road Ext. Albany, NY 12205 (518)489-1098

90

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SLIDE 91

Checklist for Separation Agreements:

 Attach and Incorporate DRO by reference  Be sure that the Plan will permit the contemplated

division before the division is recited in the agreement.

 Be sure that ALL retirement assets have been

disclosed.

− Look for DC companions to DB plans (i.e. Deferred

Comp, Thrift Savings Plan, Union Annuity funds)

− Obtain a complete employment history

 Review Plan description to determine benefits

available – extra enhancements for certain types of employees, extra annuity funds, etc.

91

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SLIDE 92

Checklist, cont'd

 Always address in Agreement for any type of

Plan:

− Who is responsible for preparing the QDRO (and for which

Plan)

− Who is responsible for any administrative fees charged by

the plan (can be as high as $400-$500 charged by Plan to qualify the Order)

 Address each Plan with specificity and

separately in the Agreement

− Complete Plan name − IRA account numbers − DO NOT simply say “Husband's retirement benefits” or “Wife

has three IRA accounts”

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SLIDE 93

Checklist, cont'd

 Defined Benefits Plan:

− Method of division: coverture, flat amount,

percentage?

− separate/shared interest? − Survivorship − No survivorship for AP: AP's share from

maximum benefit

− Disability of Plan Participant? − Cost of Survivorship option?

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SLIDE 94

Checklist, cont'd:

− Effect of Plan loans − COLAs and other post retirement supplements,

recal for AP if she's commenced benefits

− Early retirement subsidies − Code 415 benefit limitations:(high income

pensions), Reductions should be applied proportionately to both parties

− Anti circumvention language − Will retired P pay AP out of pocket until QDRO

filed?

− Retroactive assignment dates (be sure Plan will

permit this)

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SLIDE 95

Checklist cont'd:

 Defined Contribution Plans:

− Valuation Date − Division of Benefits (%, $$ amount, etc.) − Investment experience − Effect of loans − Delayed Employer Contributions − Death of AP before segregation, after

segregation

− Death of P before/after segregation − Who is responsible for filing QDRO − Who pays administrative fees

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SLIDE 96

Client Relations:

− Was client advised of necessity of pension

valuation (if client declined, get disclaimer)

− explain deferred distribution vs. immediate

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− Effect of actuarial reductions − Forfeiture scenarios explained − Disability issues discussed and addressed? − Risk of Delaying QDRO explained

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SLIDE 97

Checklist for Pension Discovery:

− Complete employment history. − Breaks in service due to child rearing or disability. − Separate Property Issues − 401k and Cash Balance Plan: value of account as of

date of marriage

− Pre-marital service purchased?

 Source of funds?

− Pre-Marital Loans

 For what purpose?  Loans paid back with marital funds?

− Benefit Statements

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SLIDE 98

Pension Discovery, cont'd:

− Prior QDROs: suvivorship option may already be

spoken for

− Even if no prior QDROs, prior marriage may mean

possibility of competing spousal rights

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SLIDE 99

Request from Plan:

 Formal name of each plan, name of Plan Administrator and

address to send for QDRO review

 All plans with that employer in which Employee is a

member

 Do not assume that the Plan Name on the member's

benefits statement is the “official Plan Name.” www.freeerisa.com : look up plan name, and plan administrator

 Dates of membership, participation in the plan, and any

breaks in service.

 Summary Plan description for each plan to which the

employee belongs

 QDRO procedures and sample QDROs  Benefits statements, projected benefit statements (if

available) or account statements.

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SLIDE 100

Plan Authorizations, cont'd:

− Vesting provisions of Plan − Loans, encumbrances, withdrawals − Current Beneficiary designations

 Beneficiary designation history

− look for changes over the years

− Is participant retired?

 If yes: copy of retirement application, option election,

amount of monthly benefit and where sent, amount of health/life insurance and other deductions. Obtain a copy of spousal waiver (if Plan requires one) potential fraud issue

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SLIDE 101

Other Plan information

− Benefit enhancements − How will benefit be calculated? Will unused sick leave

  • r vacation leave affect retirement calculation?

− Can member “cash out” of the Plan and receive a lump

sum distribution? Caution spouse on risk of delaying QDRO (even if your retainer doesn't apply to the QDRO)

− Death benefits and Survivorship options − Information for Alternate Payee

 Rollover available  lump sum  segregated account in Alternate Payee's name

− May Alternate Payee direct her own investments?

Designate a beneficiary/estate to receive her portion?

101