Why Must a Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity Be Addressed in a QDRO when the Participant Has Not Yet Retired?
QDROs must include language that will provide the alternate payee with Qualified Preretirement Survivorship Annuity (QPSA) coverage in the event the participant predeceases her prior to their benefit commencement date. This is the only way to help secure the alternate payee’s ownership right to a portion of the participant’s pension benefits. Otherwise, the right to an equitable share of the benefits will be forever lost should the participant predecease the alternate payee before retirement. A QDRO can provide QPSA coverage to an alternate payee if the participant predeceases her prior to the commencement of benefits. Some or all of the QPSA surviving spouse annuity could be provided to the alternate payee. Alternatively, the QDRO could provide that only the portion of the QPSA death benefits that are attributable to the marital portion of the participant’s benefits are to be payable to the alternate payee. Any remaining death benefits would be available to a subsequent spouse of the
Related Questions
- If an Alternate Payee is awarded part of the pension, but not the Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity, what happens if the Participant dies prior to retirement?
- Can an ex-spouse receive all or a portion of a Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity if the participant dies before retirement?
- Why Must a Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity Be Addressed in a QDRO when the Participant Has Not Yet Retired?
