QDRO to Collect Past Due Child Support
Overview of a Indiana QDRO and Dividing Indiana Retirement Accounts
In Indiana, vested retirement accounts are subject to division by the court. The court sets aside to either spouse a percentage of those payments, either by assignment or in-kind at the time of receipt.
When retirement benefits are contingent, for instance, upon the worker spouse remaining at such place of employment a certain number of years and those number of years have not been achieved at the time the divorce was filed, those retirement benefits are not subject to division.
In Indiana, vested pensions are marital property. A pension vests when all the requirements to receive the pension have been met. Unvested pensions are also marital property. Until the pension has vested, the person under whom the pension is maintained has only an expectancy of interest in the pension.
Several different methods of valuation are used in determining how much a marital asset is worth, depending upon the asset to be valued and the level of agreement between the parties. Courts generally accept the value when the spouses mutually agree on a value of a particular asset. Experts may be retained by the parties or by the courts to determine the value of marital assets if the parties cannot agree. Such experts may include accountants, real estate or business appraisers, or pension valuators. The use of experts adds to the cost of the divorce.
In Indiana, if spouses share in each others retirement or pension plan, a Qualified Domestic Relations Order must be completed. A QDRO is a written set of instructions that explains to a plan administrator that two parties are dividing pension benefits. The instructions set forth the terms and conditions of the distribution - how much of the benefits are to be paid to each party, when such benefits can be paid, how such benefits should be paid, etc.
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