Kentucky Retirement Accounts and QDRO Attorneys
QDRO's are necessary to ensure that your retirement accounts are divided following a divorce.
Our office often receives calls from ex-spouses who did not realize that extra steps were needed to effectuate the division of a retirement account. While a Kentucky Divorce Decree and/or a Separation and Property Settlement Agreement will control what ultimately happens to a retirement account, those documents often do not effectuate the actual division of that account. This is a common misconception. Here’s how it actually works in a Kentucky divorce:
Retirement account assets are often at issue in Kentucky divorces, and they create a host of sub-issues that need to be addressed. For example, Kentucky retirement accounts can have both marital and non-marital components. As a litigant, it is important that you contact an experienced Kentucky divorce attorney to explain your legal rights. The attorney will likely ask you questions such as:
Ultimately, the retirement account will either be addressed informally by an agreement between the parties or formally by a Kentucky court order. A proper division of retirement assets is often quite complicated, and you owe it to yourself to consult with an experienced Kentucky divorce lawyer before making any hasty decisions.
Once we know how the retirement account will be divided (i.e. who’s receiving/retaining what) and we have a court order supporting that division, the next step is the QDRO. A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) in Kentucky is a court order that effectuates the division of a retirement account after a Kentucky divorce is finalized. A Lexington KY attorney will prepare the QDRO to ensure that a divorced spouse, also known as the alternate payee, will receive his or her share of the benefits from an ex-spouse’s employer-based plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The ex-spouse is also called the plan participant. A big driving force in how the QDRO is prepared is the plan administrator of the subject account.
If you are contemplating divorce and know that retirement assets will be an issue, you owe it to yourself to consult with Kentucky QDRO lawyer. The attorneys in The Law Offices of W. Breckinridge Norment III, P.S.C. handle QDROs regularly and would be happy to sit down with you for a free consultation. Feel free to call our office to schedule at 859-303-6007.
Retirement account assets are often at issue in Kentucky divorces, and they create a host of sub-issues that need to be addressed. For example, Kentucky retirement accounts can have both marital and non-marital components. As a litigant, it is important that you contact an experienced Kentucky divorce attorney to explain your legal rights. The attorney will likely ask you questions such as:
- When was the retirement account was opened?
- What type of an account is it?
- What contributions were made before the marriage?
- What contributions were made during the marriage?
- Have any loans been taken out?
- What were the loans for?
- Who is the plan administrator?
- Have you and your spouse discussed the potential for any agreements with regard to dividing the subject account(s)?
- What other marital and non-marital assets are at issue in your divorce?
- Are there other retirement accounts at issue?
Ultimately, the retirement account will either be addressed informally by an agreement between the parties or formally by a Kentucky court order. A proper division of retirement assets is often quite complicated, and you owe it to yourself to consult with an experienced Kentucky divorce lawyer before making any hasty decisions.
Once we know how the retirement account will be divided (i.e. who’s receiving/retaining what) and we have a court order supporting that division, the next step is the QDRO. A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) in Kentucky is a court order that effectuates the division of a retirement account after a Kentucky divorce is finalized. A Lexington KY attorney will prepare the QDRO to ensure that a divorced spouse, also known as the alternate payee, will receive his or her share of the benefits from an ex-spouse’s employer-based plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The ex-spouse is also called the plan participant. A big driving force in how the QDRO is prepared is the plan administrator of the subject account.
If you are contemplating divorce and know that retirement assets will be an issue, you owe it to yourself to consult with Kentucky QDRO lawyer. The attorneys in The Law Offices of W. Breckinridge Norment III, P.S.C. handle QDROs regularly and would be happy to sit down with you for a free consultation. Feel free to call our office to schedule at 859-303-6007.