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A defined benefit plan is a pension plan which pays a monthly benefit to the employee after retirement. The benefit is usually calculated using a formula which often employs his/her years of credited service and final average salary. This benefit is typically paid when the employee reaches his/her normal retirement age for the remainder of his/her lifetime. 2. Is it possible to receive a lump sum cash payment when drafting a QDRO against a defined benefit plan? Typically, no. Most defined benefit plans will only pay both participants and alternate payees benefits on a monthly basis. However, the provisions of the plan itself should be examined before ruling out this possibility. 3. Can I get my benefits from a defined benefit plan right away? Under a defined benefit plan, the benefit awarded to the alternate payee may begin, at his/her election, when the participant reaches his/her "earliest retirement age" under the Plan. This is the earliest point in time benefits may begin being paid to the alternate payee. In some cases, the QDRO could be drafted to only allow commencement of benefits to the alternate payee to begin when the participant actually retires. 4. Is it always necessary to elect post-retirement survivor benefits for an Alternate Payee? No. Most plans will allow the use of a separate interest approach to dividing the benefits. Using this type of QDRO, the Alternate Payee's share of the benefits are actuarially adjusted and therefore, payable for the lifetime of the Alternate Payee. In such a case, the death of the Participant after benefits have commenced will not affect payment to the Alternate Payee. Therefore, post-retirement survivor benefits are not necessary. 5. If I am the participant and I remarry, how will the QDRO affect my new spouse? If a separate interest approach is used in drafting your QDRO, you will be able to provide survivor benefits to your new spouse based upon the portion of the benefits that remained your property. Therefore, after your death, your spouse will still be able to receive a survivor benefit relative to the portion of your pension which was not awarded to your ex-spouse. If a shared interest approach is used to draft your QDRO it is possible to jeopardize your new spouse's survivor benefits. Therefore, by using the shared approach, you new spouse could receive nothing and your ex-spouse could receive everything after your death. 6. What is a Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity (QPSA)? The Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity is a benefit that is paid to an employee's surviving spouse in the event of the employee's death prior to retirement. 7. Can an ex-spouse receive all or a portion of a Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity if the participant dies before retirement? Yes. It is possible to include a provision in a QDRO that states that the ex-spouse is to be considered the "surviving spouse" for purposes of all or a portion of the Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity payable on behalf of the Participant in the event he/she should die prior to commencement of benefits. The ex-spouse can be the surviving spouse for all of this death benefit or for just the portion of the death benefit attributable to the portion of the pension awarded in the QDRO. 8. Can an ex-spouse receive both a part of the pension and a Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity? Typically, no. Under most plans, the death of the employee before commencement of benefits would cause the pension to be forfeited, and the only benefit payable would be a qualified preretirement survivor annuity. 9. If an Alternate Payee is awarded part of the pension, but not the Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity, what happens if the Participant dies prior to retirement? The Alternate Payee will probably get nothing from the Plan. 10. What are post retirement cost-of-living increases (COLAs)? These are small incremental increases that keep retirees benefits in line with inflation. A COLA is usually based upon the increase in the Consumer Price Index. Not all plans offer COLAs. 11. What is an early retirement subsidy? Early retirement subsidies can come in a variety of different forms and are sometimes offered for different reasons. An early retirement subsidy can be a package deal to encourage early retirement in an effort by the company or union to downsize or can be a bonus for completion of a certain amount of years of service. Not all plans offer early retirement subsidies. 
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