What is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO)? – ChooseGoldman

A Domestic Relations Order is a court order filed with a state retirement system to make changes to how a pension is handled as a marital asset. They are utilized in the event of a divorce or the death of a spouse or a former spouse. In Michigan, these orders are handled by the Office of Retirement Services (ORS).

Many private and public pensions allow the recipient to select a Survivor Option, which sets aside some of the pension funds for your widow and widower in the event of your death. If you do not select this option, your spouse may not receive anything from your pension if you die. In the event of a divorce, you can use a DRO to void the survivor option. This will increase your pension payments to the level they would have been if you had never selected the option in the first place. However, some of your pension might now be divided as marital property and given to your former spouse.

If you have no survivor option, a DRO is also used to designate part of a pension to be paid to a former spouse. DROs are also used for child and spousal support.

A DRO is Qualified if it is used in the context of a private, employer-sponsored pension plan that is subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. According to federal law, you cannot divide such a pension as marital property without a QDRO.

What is mixed Property?

Aside from the material needs of the other spouse and the other spouse’s assistance in acquiring a piece of property, there are at least two other ways that property that would otherwise be separate can become marital property. One way this can happen is if the property is mixed with either marital property or with the former spouse’s separate property to such a degree that it cannot be separated.

The other way is if both spouses explicitly act as if the once separate property is now shared property. An example of this is placing the property in the name of both spouses.

What about the marital/family home? Who gets it? Will we lose it?

That depends on the circumstances. If there are no minor children involved in the divorce, then the marital home will be divided on the same basis as all the other marital property. That being said, the court will show some preference for keeping the entire house in the possession of at least one of the spouses if it is possible to do so fairly.

Typically, if there are few other assets other than the house, then the house will likely be sold and the proceeds will be divided accordingly between the spouses. The other option is if the spouse who does get the house has enough personal wealth, or if there is sufficient other property, then the recipient spouse will have to buy out the non-recipient’s share of the total value of the house.

If one spouse is the primary caregiver and has been given possession of the house, then that spouse is more likely to receive the marital home to ensure the continuity of the environment for their children and minimize the psychological harm that divorces often cause.

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