Using Aliases in QDRO Calculations

To perform calculations for QDRO alternate payees, the administrator first creates an employee ID (actually, a "non-employee" ID), for the alternate payee. This enables users to run the QDRO calculation based on the alternate payee ID.

Note:

Because the calculation is based on the QDRO payee's ID, all aliases referencing employee data are resolved based on the QDRO alternate payee's data, not the original employee's data. It is extremely important to keep this in mind as you set up your plan rules.

For example, the alias BIRTH_DT would produce the alternate payee's date of birth, not the original employee's date of birth.

The alias SBIRTH_DT, which normally references an employee's spouse's birth date, is usually not valid for QDRO calculations, which do not incorporate any reference to a new spouse. If you want to reference the original employee's birth date in a QDRO calculation, use the special alias QDRO_EE_BD (QDRO employee birth date).

This is an especially useful alias for determining early and late adjustments. For example, Paul and Mary got divorced and Mary has a QDRO giving her part of Paul's pension benefit. The plan's usual early adjustment factor is a 6 percent per year reduction for each year between ages 65 and 60. When Mary elects to begin benefits, Paul is 62 and Mary is 58. Her benefit should be reduced by 18 percent because the reduction is based on Paul's age when she starts receiving payments. Therefore, the Early/Late Adjustments definition used in Mary's calculation needs to reference Paul's age. In order to get to this information, use QDRO_EE_BD.