Opinion ID: 1310753
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the qdro

Text: Finally, Anderson argues that the Trustees improperly applied the QDRO to reduce his disability benefit in favor of his ex-wife, the alternate payee. Anderson claims that until his ex-wife elects to begin receiving her portion of the benefit, he is entitled to the full amount, without any reduction pursuant to the QDRO. We review de novo a decision regarding obligations under a QDRO. Owens v. Auto. Machinists Pension Trust, 551 F.3d 1138, 1142 (9th Cir.2009). A QDRO requires a plan administrator to provide part or all of an employee's pension to an ex-spouse. 29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(3)(B) (2006). According to the Department of Labor, there are two basic types of QDROs: separate interest QDROs and shared payment QDROs. U.S. Dep't of Labor, The Division of Pensions Through Qualified Domestic Relations Orders, http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/ publications/qdros.html, Question 3-3. A separate interest QDRO divides the benefit into two different pensions, one for the plan participant and one for the alternate payee. Because there are two pensions, the alternate payee can receive her benefit at a time and in a form different from that chosen by the participant. Id. On the other hand, a shared payment QDRO assigns the alternate payee a portion of each monthly payment. Under this approach, the alternate payee will not receive any payments unless the participant receives a payment or is already in pay status. Id. The Trustees found the QDRO to be a separate interest QDRO creating two separate pensions. Once the pension was split, they reasoned, Anderson no longer had an interest in any of his ex-wife's pension. The Trustees were correct. The QDRO grants the alternate payee half of Anderson's pension as of February 25, 1999. It allows Anderson's ex-wife to begin receiving her payments at Anderson's earliest retirement age: thus, she could be paid even if Anderson were still working. This is impossible with a shared payment QDRO, where the ex-spouse receives a payment only when the plan participant does. For these reasons, Anderson's QDRO was a separate interest QDRO, and he cannot share in any of the benefits allocated to his ex-wife.