This reduction reflects the internal calculation by the Plan Administrator to allow for the continuation of the payment of monthly benefits to the Alternate Payee after the Plan Participant's death. When the survivor benefit election is made, the Plan continues payments to the Alternate Payee after the death of the Participant. The net effect of this actuarial device is that the Plan Participant will receive a significantly reduced monthly payment during his or her lifetime while the Alternate Payee will receive not only a portion of that reduced monthly payment attributable to the marriage, but also a continuation of monthly benefits after the death of the Plan Participant. The monetary impact that such an election has varies with the ages and sexes of the parties. The wider the gap in the life expectancies between the Plan Participant and the Plan Participant's spouse, the greater the disparity between what each would receive in the way of retirement benefits when a QDRO has a survivor benefit election.
Men have a shorter life expectancy than women.
On average, women live seven years longer than men. Because most men marry women who are their age or younger, a survivor benefit election, without more, has the tendency to confer a greater portion of the total value of the pension included in the marital estate to the former wife. Mathematically, the same disproportionate distribution of benefits would result if the wife was the Plan Participant married to a husband who was significantly younger than her. Statistically, however, the later scenario is less likely to occur. Assuming that it is the parties' intention to use the QDRO to create an equal division of the retirement benefit earned during the marriage, the parties have two methods by which they can correct any inequality which might result from a survivor benefit election.