Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: retirement

When your agreement is incorporated into a judgment of divorce, the judgment should contain a provision called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), which should spell out the terms of the division of your pensions. The division of pensions in a divorce is a complicated matter controlled by federal law, and you should have a lawyer familiar with family law drafting the terms of the QDRO. Usually a spouse is entitled to one half of the part of the pension which is acquired during the marriage, so as an example, if you worked for the same company or government for thirty years, and were married for fifteen of those years, your spouse would receive one quarter (one half of one half) of your pension benefits. Your spouse would usually begin receiving that one quarter when you begin receiving your pension, regardless of his or her age and retirement status. In cases of a retirement fund with a defined value, such as an IRA or a 401K, the fund can be divided at the time of the divorce but the spouse can generally withdraw the funds, minus the deferred taxes which are owed to the government and a large penalty for early withdrawal, or wait until he or she reaches the age when there is no penalty. It is very important that the judgment of divorce contain the right language to protect your rights regarding the spouse's retirement funds, and sincae it's both important and complicated, it is worth the cost of having a competent lawyer handle it.