State Retirement Plans and Divorce
Each state retirement system has its own rules relating to the
division of state employees' pensions in divorce proceedings.
Below is basic information on each state retirement system's rules.
Why does this matter?
A pension can be the most valuable asset of a
marriage. When going through a divorce, both parties to the
marriage should know whether the state government employee's pension or
other retirement plan asset can be divided, whether survivors benefits
can be paid to a widow or widower, and what information must be included
in any state court Domestic Relations Order to ensure that the retirement
system will make the court-ordered payments. The Pension Rights Center's
book, Your
Pension Rights at Divorce provides helpful information on spousal pension
rights. Chapter
8 [PDF] contains information about rights at divorce under state
retirement systems.
What is a Domestic Relations Order (DRO)?
A DRO is a state domestic relations court order that allows for the
division of assets in a divorce. Some states have special types of
DROs for retirement plan assets. These are often called Qualified Domestic
Relations Orders (QDROs). The DRO tells the retirement system how much the
employee and ex-spouse are to be paid, when they are to be paid, and the
form of payment. If a state retirement system does not permit the
division of government employees' pensions at divorce, it may
be possible for ex-spouses to receive other property, for
example a house or liquid assets, of equal in value to the pension
share and survivors beneifts.
If you want to know what a statefs retirement system rules are under
divorce, click on the state in the map below for a link to the state plan.
(11/4/2011)
State Retirement Plans and Divorce Information
Pension Rights Center
1350 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 206 | Washington, DC 20036 | (202)
296-3776 | 1-888-420-6550