QDROs and DROs for Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania QDRO Preparation At the time of divorce or dissolution of marriage, plan benefits may be divided between the participant or member and that person’s spouse. In order to effectuate a division of the pension benefits in the state of Pennsylvania, a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO or DRO) must be prepared and submitted to the Plan Administrator. The Orders generated by our online service are specific to each System or Plan.

Types of Plans(all QDROs are $299)


QDRO Pennsylvania Defined Benefit Plans
[Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO’s) - Governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)]
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QDRO Pennsylvania Defined Contribution Plans
[Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO’s) - Governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)]
  • Traditional Plan
  • 401(k) Plan
  • Profit Sharing Plan
  • Savings Plan
  • TIAA Plan
  • Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
  • Deferred Compensation Plan (457b and 457f)
  • Read About Plans
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QDRO Orders to Collect Past-Due Child Support
[Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO’s) - Governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)] and [Domestic Relations Orders (DRO’s) – Governed by State Law]
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QDRO Pennsylvania Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
[Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) - Governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)]
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QDRO Federal Government Plans
[Court Order Acceptable for Processing (COAP)]
  • Civil Service Retirement System
  • Federal Employees Retirement System
  • Thrift Savings Plan
  • Read About Plans
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QDRO Military Plans
[Military Qualifying Court Order (MQCO)]
  • Military Retirement System (MRS) - All Branches of the Military – Active, Reserves and National Guard
  • Read About Plans
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QDRO Railroad Plans
[Qualifying Court Order (QCO)]
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QDRO Pennsylvania State & Public School Plans
[Domestic Relations Orders (DRO’s) – Governed by Pennsylvania State Law]
Consists of Two Retirement Plans:
  • State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS)
  • Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS)
  • Read About Plans
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QDRO Pennsylvania City, County and Municipal Plans
[Domestic Relations Orders (DRO’s) – Governed by Pennsylvania State Law]
Consists of One Retirement Plan:
The system administers over 900 Municipal pension plans for a city, borough, town, township, county, institution district, any newly-created governmental unit, an authority, an institution supported and maintained by a municipality or municipal government association, or an industrial government association which has adopted bylaws and the governing body of which is organized and holds regular public meetings.
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QDRO Pennsylvania Independent City, County and Municipal Plans (Not PMRS Plans)
[Domestic Relations Orders (DRO’s) – Governed by Pennsylvania State Law]

Overview of a Pennsylvania QDRO and Dividing Pennsylvania Retirement Accounts

Pensions acquired between marriage and separation are usually considered to be marital property. Only the percentage of the pension actually acquired during the marriage is marital property. Some disability pensions, even if acquired during the marriage, may be non-marital property.

In Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania the court may include the retirement benefits and plans earned by both spouses as marital assets available for division. Retirement benefits vary greatly but can generally be divided into two groups:

  • Defined Contribution Plans: A defined amount of money belonging to the employee. The employee and/or the employer make defined contributions. The balance of the plan is constantly changing, but its value is definable at any given point. 401(k)’s, 403(b)’s and profit sharing plans fall into this category.
  • Defined Benefit Plans: A retirement benefit where an employer promises to pay a benefit to an employee sometime in the future, based upon some type of formula. Normally, this formula is based on the employee’s salary near the end of his or her career and the number of years he or she worked for the employer before retirement. Defined benefit plans are much more complicated to value and often require the professional evaluation of an actuary to determine exact values.

In Pennsylvania if spouses share in each other’s 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.

Pennsylvania County Courts:

The Pennsylvania court locations below are provided for informational purposes only. We do our very best to keep this information current and accurate, but courthouse locations do change.

Adams County Courthouse, 111-117 Baltimore St., Gettysburg, PA 17325

Allegheny County Courthouse, 436 Grant St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Armstrong County Courthouse 500 E. Market St., Kittanning, PA 16201

Beaver County Courthouse, 810 Third St., Beaver, PA 15009

Bedford County Courthouse, 200 S. Juliana St., Bedford, PA 15522

Berks County Courthouse, 633 Court St., Reading, PA 19601

Blair County Courthouse, 423 Allegheny St., Hollidaysburg, PA 16648

Bradford County Courthouse, 301 Main St., Towanda, PA 18848

Bucks County Courthouse, 55 E. Court St., Doylestown, PA 18901

Butler County Courthouse, 124 W. Diamond St., P.O. Box 1208, Butler, PA 16003

Cambria County Courthouse, 200 S. Center St., Ebensburg, PA 15931

Cameron County Courthouse, 20 E. Fifth St., Emporium, PA 15834

Carbon County Courthouse Annex, P.O. Box. 250, Jim Thorpe, Pa. 18229

Centre County Courthouse, Allegheny & High Sts., Bellefonte, PA 16823

Chester County Justice Center, 201 West Market St., Ste. 1400, P.O. Box 2746, West Chester, PA 19380-0989

Clarion County Courthouse, 421 Main St., Clarion, PA 16214

Clearfield County Courthouse, 230 E. Market St., P.O. Box 549, Clearfield, PA 16830

Clinton County Courthouse, 230 E. Water St., Lock Haven, PA 17745

Columbia County Courthouse, 35 W. Main St., P.O. Box 380, Bloomsburg, PA 17815

Crawford County Courthouse, 903 Diamond Park, Meadville, PA 16335

Cumberland County Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Square, Carlisle, PA 17013

Dauphin County Courthouse, 101 Market St., Harrisburg, PA 17101

Government Center Building, 201 W. Front St., Media, PA 19063

Elk County Courthouse, 240 Main St., P.O. Box 237, Ridgway, PA 15853

Erie County Courthouse, 140 W. Sixth St., Erie, PA 16501

Fayette County Courthouse, 61 E. Main St., Uniontown, PA 15401

Forest County Courthouse, 526 Elm St., # 2, Tionesta, PA 16353

Franklin County Courthouse, 157 Lincoln Way E., Chambersburg, PA 17201

Fulton County Courthouse, 201 N. Second St., McConnellsburg, PA 17233

Greene County Courthouse, 10 East High St., Waynesburg, PA 15370

Huntingdon County Courthouse, 223 Penn St., P.O. Box 39, Huntingdon, PA 16652

Indiana County Courthouse, 825 Philadelphia St., Indiana, PA 15701

Jefferson County Courthouse, 200 Main St., Brookville, PA 15825

Juniata County Courthouse, Bridge & Main Sts., P.O. Box 68, Mifflintown, PA 17059

Brooks Building, 436 Spruce St., Scranton, PA 18503

Lancaster County Courthouse, 50 N. Duke St., P.O. Box 83480, Lancaster, PA 17608

Lawrence County Government Center, 430 Court St., New Castle, PA 16101

Lebanon County Municipal Building, 400 S. Eighth St., Lebanon, PA 17042

Lehigh County Courthouse, 455 W. Hamilton St., Allentown, PA 18101

Luzerne County Courthouse, 200 N. River St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711

Lycoming County Courthouse, 48 W. Third St., Williamsport, PA 17701

McKean County Courthouse, 500 W. Main St., Smethport, PA 16749

Mercer County Courthouse, 100 N. Diamond St., Mercer, PA 16137

Mifflin County Courthouse, 20 N. Wayne St., Lewistown, PA 17044

Monroe County Courthouse, 610 Monroe St., Stroudsburg, PA 18360

Montgomery County Courthouse, P.O. Box 311, Norristown, PA 19404

Montour County Courthouse, 29 Mill St., Danville, PA 17821

Northampton County Government Center, 669 Washington St., Easton, PA 18042

Northumberland County Courthouse, 201 Market St., Sunbury, PA 17801

Perry County Courthouse, P.O. Box 325, New Bloomfield, PA 17068

310 Criminal Justice Center 1301 Filbert St., Philadelphia, PA 19107

Pike County Courthouse 412 Broad St., Milford, PA 18337

Potter County Courthouse One E. Second St., Coudersport, PA 16915

Schuylkill County Courthouse, 401 N. Second St., Pottsville, PA 17901

Snyder County Courthouse, 9 W. Market St., P.O. Box 217, Middleburg, PA 17842

Somerset County Courthouse, 111 E. Union St., Somerset, PA 15501

Sullivan County Courthouse, Main & Muncy Sts., Laporte, PA 18626

Susquehanna County Courthouse, 11 Maple St., P.O. Box 218, Montrose, PA 18801

Tioga County Courthouse, 116 Main St., Wellsboro, PA 16901

Union County Courthouse 103 South Second St., Lewisburg, PA 17837

Venango County Courthouse 1168 Liberty St., Franklin, PA 16323

Warren County Courthouse, 204 Fourth Ave., Warren, PA 16365

Washington County Courthouse, 1 S. Main St., Washington, PA 15301

Wayne County Courthouse, 925 Court St., Honesdale, PA 18431

Westmoreland County Courthouse, 2 N. Main St., Greensburg, PA 15601

Wyoming County Courthouse One Courthouse Square, Tunkhannock, PA 18657

York County Judicial Center 45 N. George St., York, PA 17401

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