Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

What is a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) in a Florida divorce? This is an order, separate from a final judgment of divorce, that instructs a retirement plan administrator on how to divide a retirement account or pay money from a retirement account to a spouse. It is a specialized order with specific formatting and wording that may vary among different retirement accounts. The entry of a QDRO was an issue in the case Travis v. Travis, 5D20-2617 (Fla. 5th DCA July 1, 2022).

In a final judgment of divorce, the trial court equitably distributed retirement assets and pension benefits, and specifically named two retirement accounts - the former husband’s “Lockheed Martin Salaried Savings” and the “GE Retirement Savings”. The former husband later filed a motion to have a QDRO entered for these two plans. After a hearing, the trial court entered QRDOs for both of these accounts, plus a third account not discussed at the hearing - a Lockheed Martin Corporation Salaried Employee Retirement Program account.

The former husband moved for reconsideration, arguing it was error to enter a QDRO for the third account because it was a new benefit not awarded in the final judgment. His motion was denied and the former husband filed a notice of appeal. While his appeal was pending, the trial court entered three QDROs which distributed the above-mentioned accounts, and he filed an amended notice of appeal to include these three orders.

The appellate court disagreed with the former husband that the third account was a “new benefit”. It held “The final judgment of dissolution of marriage stated that ‘[e]quitable distribution also results in an equitable distribution of retirement assets . . . as well as pension benefits.’ Although the judgment did not list the full name of the Lockheed Retirement Program, it is the only retirement plan in the record that is described as or referred to as a pension plan. Additionally, the final judgment states that Former Husband’s pension was marital property, and Former Husband conceded that it was as well. Therefore, the term ‘pension plan’ in the final judgment must have referred to the Lockheed Retirement Program and was broad enough to include the Lockheed Retirement Program. Accordingly, we affirm because the trial court clarified the final judgment when entering the QDRO on the Lockheed Retirement Program and therefore did not distribute a new benefit in either the Lockheed Retirement Program QDRO or the accompanying Addendum.”

However, the appellate court held “None of the QDROs entered after Former Husband filed his notice of appeal contained language stating that the QDROs were temporary and would only affect the parties until this Court decided this appeal. We hold that the trial court exceeded its limited jurisdiction granted by Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.600(c)(1) when entering these QDROs while this appeal was pending. We vacate the three additional February 2021 QDROs and remand for further proceedings.”

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