Protecting Survivor Benefits in a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO)

In this presentation, I explain why survivor benefits must be addressed in a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) to protect an alternate payee’s future retirement income, because too many divorcing spouses focus on dividing balances or monthly payments and ignore what happens if the plan participant dies first. For pension plans, I walk through how survivor protections often arise through a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity (QJSA) or Qualified Pre-Retirement Survivor Annuity (QPSA), and why the QDRO must explicitly secure those rights before retirement elections lock them in. For 401(k) plans, I explain that the QDRO still must address death-benefit timing so the alternate payee’s share stays protected if the participant dies before implementation. Learn more: https://www.cummings.law/qdro/