Running QDRO Calculations

When a former spouse gains a share in an employee's pension benefit through a QDRO, the former spouse (the QDRO alternate payee) becomes a plan participant and receives an employee ID for the plan.

On the Administer QDRO page, enter the dollar amount due to the alternate payee. However, if the alternate payee decides to begin collecting the pension payment at a time other than when the original employee reaches the plan's normal retirement age, you might need to apply early or late retirement factors to the benefit.

Furthermore, the QDRO alternate payee is often entitled to many of the same optional forms that employees might choose (with the notable exception of joint and survivor options that provide a benefit to a new spouse). When you use Pension Administration to schedule payments to the QDRO alternate payee, you reference the optional forms produced in the QDRO calculation.

To calculate early and late retirement factors and optional forms, run a calculation under the QDRO alternate payee's employee ID.

When you do this, use the Process Selection page to limit the calculation, so that you only run the following factors:

• Early and late retirement factors.

• Alternate payee's benefit formula, which typically just uses the QDRO amount that you enter on the Administer QDRO page.

• Optional forms of payment, based on the alternate payee's benefit.

  This is important, because you do not want the system to try to calculate eligibility, service, final average earnings, or other plan components that are not applicable to an alternate payee.