LibGuides: Ohio Legal Separation from Marriage Law: Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROS), (DPOs), (COAPs) and (RBCOS)

Definition

A qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) is a court order in a domestic relations case that orders private pension or retirement plan benefits to be used to provide alimony or child support, or to divide marital property in a divorce. QDROs are authorized by the federal law known as ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. ERISA is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans.

Ohio public retirement accounts are exempt from ERISA and must be divided under state law by Division of Property Orders, known as DPOs or DOPOs.

Federal military benefits are governed by the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act and are administered by the Office of Personnel Management. Federal civil service employees are governed by FERS(Federal Employees Retirement System) or CSRS(Civil Service Retirement System). The plan is designated according to the occupation and agency employing the employee. The mechanism provided for division of benefits is termed a COAP (Court Order Acceptable For Processing).

This page lists books we have at the Franklin County Law Library and provides a sample forms. Orders dividing retirement benefits are complicated. It is best to seek the advice of an attorney and your plan administrator.

Books Available at the Franklin County Law Library

Attorneys with a Franklin County Law Library card may check out these books. Other members of the public may use them in the Franklin County Law Library. The Library maintains the current edition of each of these books, unless otherwise noted.

Complete QDRO Handbook: Dividing ERISA, Military, and Civil Service Pensions and Collection Child Support from Employee Benefit Plans by David Clayton Carrad
Call Number: KF 532.7 .C37
Publication Date: 2014
Military Family Law by Patricia and Steven Shewmaker
Call Number: KF 390 .M55 .S54
Publication Date: 2019
Qualified Domestic Relations Orders by Michael Snyder
Call Number: KF 532.7 .Q81
Qualified Domestic Relations Order Handbook by Shulman, Gary
Call Number: KF 532.7 .S58 2006
Publication Date: Current to 2022
Qualified Domestic Relations Orders: Strategy and Liability for the Family Law Attorney by Raymond Dietrich
Publication Date: Current
Only available as an ebook for Central Ohio attorneys with a Franklin County Law Library card at https://lawlibrary.franklincountyohio.gov/.

Federal Laws governing QDROs

26 U.S. Code § 401 - Qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans
An employee benefit plan normally must provide that participants may not assign or alienate a plan benefit. A major exception to this rule exists for payment under a QDRO at Sec. 401(a)(13)(B).
26 U.S. Code § 414 - Definitions and special rules
Sec. 414(p)(1)(A) defines QDROs, specifies what facts must be in the order, and states that the order cannot alter the plan benefits. All it does is deal with the participant's interest in the plan.

Sec. 414 (p)(8) says that an alternate payee is a spouse, former spouse, child, or dependent of a participant. This payee must be recognized in the order as having a right to receive all or a portion of the participant's benefits.

Selected Ohio Laws governing DPOs

Oh. Rev. Code Sec. 3105.80
Property division orders involving public retirement program -definitions.
Oh. Rev. Code Sec. 3105.81
Order for equitable division of property to require compliance with provisions.
Oh. Rev. Code Sec. 3105.82
Requirements of order.
Oh. Rev Code Sec. 3105.86
Terminating alternate payee rights.
Oh. Rev. Code Sec. 3105.89
Court retains jurisdiction - modification of orders.
Harris v. Reedus
Legal malpractice involving a division of an OPERS pension in Franklin County.

Forms

Court Order Acceptable for Processing
Sample form dividing Federal Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) pension. The Civil Service Retirement Act, which became effective on August 1, 1920, established a retirement system for certain Federal employees. It was replaced by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) for Federal employees who first entered covered service on and after January 1, 1987. This form is adapted from Baldwin's, Ohio Domestic Relations Law.
COAP for the Federal Employees Service Retirement System (FERS)
Adapted from Baldwin's Ohio Domestic Relations Law
Order - Divsion of Property (DPO) - Ohio Public Pension PDF
Official form for dividing Ohio public retirement accounts.The DPO is a standard form jointly created by the five public retirement systems, the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio Domestic Relations Judges Association. The form is available from OPERS or through the retirement system’s website at www.opers.org. Please note this form may be reproduced, but it may not be altered. Alterations to the DPO form are a basis for the retirement system not approving the DPO.

Sample QDRO for the Ohio Deferred Compensation Program

Sample QDROs from TIAA-CREF
Thrift Savings Plans Court Ordered Center
Procedures and Model Language Documents for the Federal Thrift Savings Plan RBCOs and CSCOs

Military Pensions

DFAS Form
Official form from the US Department of Defense for dividing military pensions.
Legal Assistance for Military Personnel
Articles about military pensions from the North Carolina State Bar Association.

Federal Regulations governing Court Orders Acceptable for Processing (COAPs)

CFR Title 5: Administrative Personnel PART 838—COURT ORDERS AFFECTING RETIREMENT BENEFITS

Ohio Legal Separation from Marriage Law: Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROS), (DPOs), (COAPs) and (RBCOS)