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Archived News Release Caution: Information may be out of date. Archived News Release Caution: Information may be out of date.
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A new guide to help employers, plan administrators, family
law practitioners, participants and beneficiaries divide pension benefits was
unveiled today by Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman at a roundtable
discussion in Chicago.
"Family breakups are difficult enough without having to
worry about retirement security," said Herman. "One of my top priorities is to
assure that working Americans are economically secure when they retire, and I
want families to know they can get help with one of their most important
assets--a pension."
The guide, QDROs: The Division of Pensions through
Qualified Domestic Relations Orders, clarifies the rules that apply when
married couples facing a divorce wish to divide pension benefits or when a
domestic relations court determines that support of a dependent should come
from a parent's pension benefit. The guide interprets the requirements of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the federal pension
law.
"It is important for everyone involved in these proceedings
to understand what their rights are," said Assistant Secretary Olena Berg of
the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA). "This publication can
make the process less costly and run more smoothly for all parties involved."
State domestic relations law generally governs divorce and
family support issues in a divorce or separation proceeding. State courts,
however, must meet federal standards in dividing marital assets or in providing
family support. Orders that meet this federal standard are called Qualified
Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs).
Since its enactment, the federal law governing QDROs has
produced many puzzling questions for plan administrators and for parties
seeking to divide pension benefits upon divorce. The new guide will make it
easier for parties to obtain orders that meet federal requirements. It also
will make it easier for plan administrators to determine whether a domestic
relations order is a QDRO and to administer the benefits that are covered by
QDROs.
Herman spoke in Chicago before WEB, the Network of
Benefits Professionals, which is a national organization for employee benefits
professionals. Herman also announced that the department and WEB, along with
the American Bar Association, will be jointly undertaking a national campaign
to educate lawyers about ERISA requirements. Among other things, they will
produce a satellite presentation about family law issues relating to pension
benefits, to be aired in January.
The 90-page publication is available free of charge from
PWBA's toll-free Publication Hotline at 1-800-998-7542. It is also
available on http://www.dol.gov/dol/pwba --PWBA's
Internet site.
Archived News Release Caution: Information may be out of date.
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