Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: QDRO vs. PSA

A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) and a Property Settlement Agreement(PSA) are two distinctly different documents; the former being normally an order from a court for the division of marital property and the latter the contract embodying the agreement of separating/divorcing parties as to how important issues in a marriage should be settled before divorce, which may include the division of at least some marital property.

A QDRO would not (in my opinion) need to refleect the kinds of gains or losses referenced in the question whether or not such matters are addressed in the PSA since these are not among the mandated criteria which must be included in the QDRO in order to make it qualified. However, it would seem important that the attorney representing the interests of the alternate payee of such a QDRO make the necessary effort to ensure that the court's QDRO fully reflects what should be paid to this payee under this order.