Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Ex-Husband's Lump Sum Pension

When you were divorced, your lawyer should have prepared a document called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) and submitted it to the judge for signature. The QDRO is then filed with the pension plan administrator so that, when the pension payments are made, you would automatically get half of the pension benefit. If you elected a survivor's annuity, the premium for that would be deducted from the payment, depending on what agreement you made regarding who was to pay for this. I suggest you contact the pension plan administrator and find out if they have this order on file, and if not you need to take action right away, and should definitely hire a lawyer who does family law and knows how to take care of this.

The $50000 buyout sounds like a salary buyout because your ex agreed to take early retirement, and wouldn't be considered part of the pension plan.