QILDRO
Qualified Illinois Domestic Relations Order (QILDRO)
QILDRO’s (sometimes referred to as QUILDRO) are controlled by and must comply with Illinois State law. The controlling statue is contained in the Illinois Pension Code. It defines a QILDRO as an Illinois court order that creates or recognizes the existence of an alternate payee’s right to receive all or a portion of a member’s accrued benefits in a retirement system. The Illinois Pension Code is located here. The QILDRO is used to divide state and municipal pension plans, including the State University Retirement System (SURS) plans, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) plans, Teacher’s Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) plans, Police Pension Fund and Firefighter’ Pension Fund plans, as well as others.
The Process
I can help at any point in the process. If your divorce is not yet completed, I can suggest the language to be included in your Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage. My advice will of course depend on your role, are you the member (Participant) or the one that is to receive benefits of your former spouse’s plan (Alternate Payee).
If the Judgment has already been entered, I can draft the QILDRO, and submit it to the Plan Administrator for pre-approval. Once pre-approved, I motion the court for entry of the QILDRO. Once entered by the Judge, I obtain a certified copy of the QDRO and provide that copy to the Plan Administrator. Depending on the time that the Participant earned interest in the plan, the Participant’s Consent to Issuance of QILDRO may be necessary.
If the Plan is in pay status or the Participant has already applied for retirement benefits or partial or whole refund, a QILDRO Calculation Order will have to be entered. The QILDRO Calculation Order is the one that specifies the amounts that you (or the other party) are going to be paid. For this reason, it cannot be completed until the benefits are known, which is typically at retirement or termination (quitting or being fired).
As with the QILDRO, I can obtain the information necessary and draft the QILDRO Calculation Order, have it pre-approved and move the Court for entry. Once entered, I can provide a certified copy of the QILDRO Calculation Order to the Plan for implementation.
The retirement plans requiring a QILDRO can be very complicated. The terms of the QILDRO are very complex. It may seem simple, as you only need to check boxes on the QILDRO, but choosing wrong formula will determine how the monthly benefit will be calculated in the QILDRO Calculation Order. The outcome could be hundreds of dollars difference each month.
If need be, I can negotiate with the opposing party or attorney, regarding benefits that should or should not be included in the QILRO or QILDRO Calculation Order. If there is no agreement, I can argue before the Court for a version of the Order that is fair and benefits you.
If your Judgment has been entered, I can review it, and if there are problematic provisions, I can ask the court to revise it, or appeal the Judgment to the Appellate Court. However, in most instances, all this must be done within 30 days of entry of the Judgment.
If the QILDRO or QILDRO Calculation Order has already been entered, I can review it. If it provide too much or not enough benefits or protections, I can motion to court to revise it or appeal the court’s decision to the appellate court. Time is of essence in these circumstances. Of course, which option you choose will depend on the particular situation: how much money is involved and what your chances of winning are. You will know the first part and I will inform you of the second.
Qualified Illinois Domestic Relations Order (QILDRO)
QILDRO’s (sometimes referred to as QUILDRO’s) are controlled by and must comply with Illinois State law. The controlling statue is contained in the Illinois Pension Code. It defines a QILDRO as an Illinois court order that creates or recognizes the existence of an alternate payee’s right to receive all or a portion of a member’s accrued benefits in a retirement system. The Illinois Pension Code is located here. The QILDRO is used to divide state and municipal pension plans, including the State University Retirement System (SURS) plans, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) plans, Teacher’s Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) plans, Police Pension Fund and Firefighter’ Pension Fund plans, as well as others.
The Process
We can help at any point in the process. If your divorce is not yet completed, we can suggest the language to be included in your Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage. Our advice will of course depend on your role, are you the member (Participant) or the one that is to receive benefits of your former spouse’s plan (Alternate Payee).
If the Judgment has already been entered, we can draft the QILDRO, and submit it to the Plan Administrator for pre-approval. Once pre-approved, we motion the court for entry of the QILDRO. Once entered by the Judge, we obtain a certified copy of the QDRO and provide that copy to the Plan Administrator. Depending on the time that the Participant earned interest in the plan, the Participant’s Consent to Issuance of QILDRO may be necessary.
If the Plan is in pay status or the Participant has already applied for retirement benefits or partial or whole refund, a QILDRO Calculation Order will have to be entered. The QILDRO Calculation Order is the one that specifies the amounts that you (or the other party) are going to be paid. For this reason, it cannot be completed until the benefits are known, which is typically at retirement or termination (quitting or being fired).
As with the QILDRO, we can obtain the information necessary and draft the QILDRO Calculation Order, have it pre-approved and move the Court for entry. Once entered, we can provide a certified copy of the QILDRO Calculation Order to the Plan for implementation.
The retirement plans requiring a QILDRO can be very complicated. The terms of the QILDRO are very complex. It may seem simple, as you only need to check boxes on the QILDRO, but choosing wrong formula will determine how the monthly benefit will be calculated in the QILDRO Calculation Order. The outcome could be hundreds of dollars difference each month.
If need be, we can negotiate with the opposing party or attorney, regarding benefits that should or should not be included in the QILRO or QILDRO Calculation Order. If there is no agreement, we can argue before the Court for a version of the Order that is fair and benefits you.
If your Judgment has been entered, we can review it, and if there are problematic provisions, we can ask the court to revise it, or appeal the Judgment to the Appellate Court. However, in most instances, all this must be done within 30 days of entry of the Judgment.
If the QILDRO or QILDRO Calculation Order has already been entered, we can review it. If it provide too much or not enough benefits or protections, we can motion to court to revise it or appeal the court’s decision to the appellate court. Time is of essence in these circumstances. Of course, which option you choose will depend on the particular situation: how much money is involved and what your chances of winning are. You will know the first part and we will inform you of the second.
