QDRO or Buyout?

Previously, we discussed the fact that some 84 million Americans work for companies that maintain ERISA-covered retirement plans that are divisible by QDROs, which guarantee the non-worker spouse (the non-owner) a share of the pension. Or the couple can opt for a buyout (sometimes called an immediate offset), by which one spouse trades away pension rights for another asset. Family practice lawyers are familiar with the differences between the defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k), and the traditional defined benefit plan, the old-fashioned company pension. But now, attorneys drafting QDROs must contend with a new type of retirement plan called a “cash balance pension plan” ' a hybrid that is not really the fish of a traditional defined benefit plan, or the fowl of a defined contribution plan.