Can a Divorce Affect My Individual Account or Annuity Payments?

Yes. As part of a divorce proceeding, a spouse may obtain a court order called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). The Board of Trustees must honor such Orders and amounts may be taken from your Individual Account or annuity to pay alimony, child support, or marital property rights of your spouse, former spouse, child or other dependent. Federal, state and local child support agencies may obtain QDROs covering unpaid child support obligations and under such Orders the Trustees are required to deduct the appropriate amounts from your Individual Account and pay the same to the appropriate agency.

In the hopes of lessening Trust administrative expenses, the Trustees have approved form QDRO documents and the Fund Office has been authorized to treat such an issued QDRO as qualified and transmit appropriate notices to the Participant and Alternate Payee. You or your attorney can obtain a copy of the form QDRO and/or QDRO procedures from the Fund’s website (www.oefi.org) or the Fund Office. If the form QDRO is not utilized and the attorneys involved in your divorce instead utilize some other form of proposed QDRO, then the form prepared by those attorneys must be reviewed and approved by the Trust Fund’s attorney. The Trust Fund attorney will review the QDRO and provide advice to the Board of Trustees as to whether or not they should treat the Domestic Relations Order presented as being qualified under the provisions of federal law taking into account provisions of the Plan. The Trustees then make a final decision and notify you and the Alternate Payee of their decision. It is important to recognize that separate pre-approved QDROs are required for the Defined Benefit Pension Plan and this Defined Contribution Plan.