Legal Question in Family Law in New Mexico

Re: Do i need a QDRO to rcieve my half of a 401k penso plan that is court oder

One of the things you'll find out real quick is that in dealing with a QDRO is that it is best to have an attorney. I will explain, in very broad terms some issues with what I read in your question and then I will suggest to you, again, that you consider obtaining legal counsel. However, before getting to that you can go to the State Bar of New Mexico's web site and look up lawyer referral there and you will get some names of family law attorneys who will be able to address the issue of QDRO. The web site is: http://www.nmbar.org you can also call the state bar at 1-800-876-6227 and ask for the lawyer referral person. You can look in the yellow pages and for a lawyer in the city where you live who practices family law. Last, do not doscount 'word of mouth' in looking for a lawyer. Ask your friends and family relations if they know of a family law lawyer who they were happy with using.

QDRO is normally administered by the company who provided the retirement. That means they normally make the rules about disbursement. Some will disburse upon request (uncommon) while others will only disburse when the person who was to receive the retirement benefits reaches a certain or particular age (common method). Thus, the saying, 'when he gets his you'll get yourS.' Be that as it may, a whole lot of when you'll get yours depends upon the language in your divorce decree or in your QDRO. If your divorce decree (or settlement agreement) simply gives you the 1/2 of retirement then that means you'll probably have to have a QDRO.

What needs to be determined is how much are the retirement benefits? This is usually the controlling question. If he is still earning retirement benefits then someone will have to make an educated guess as to what the total retirement amount will be. After that amount is determined then you can divide that number in half (for the time period of your marriage only) and that is your half. As you can see, this becomes complicated very quickly. Next, if he is not working there anymore but the retirement monies stay with the company until (for example) he reaches the age of 65 then there will still be some guessing to determine your portion.

If you are not able to get your portion of the retirement immediately you can approach your ex and give him the option to buy you out. An attorney can give you an example how this is determined.

I have suggested you get a lawyer to work through this with you. The reason is that a family law lawyer deals with this kind of question regularly and it is a very involved question.

I hope this helps you out some. Good luck.