Value of Pensions in Divorce, Fourth Edition

Value of Pensions in Divorce, Fourth Edition provides guidelines for financial advisors, divorce attorneys, and pension actuaries through every stage of the pension valuation process - from preliminary client interview to review of pension valuation reports, drafting of qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs), and cross-examination of expert witnesses. Mathematics are kept to a minimum, and legal principles and concepts of pension valuation are translated into plain English and illustrated with examples, sample court orders, and pension documents.

Value of Pensions in Divorce includes detailed explanations and examples, as well as updates on standard topics. It introduces new approaches and new concepts relevant to everyday practice. It also offers practical applications of the values, allocations, and settlements of pensions in marital dissolutions.

Features include:

• Statutory case law and references where appropriate
• The "why" and "how" of pensions of all kinds
• Detailed actuarial valuations of pensions
• Sample QDROs
• An extensive Glossary
• And more!

Value of Pensions in Divorce has been updated to include:

• Analysis, tables, and sample valuations to reflect the new standards for pension valuation under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and under the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
• Detailed explanation of how a present value is calculated
• Expanded coverage of bright line vs. coverture, including a nationwide survey of bright line states and coverture states
• Expanded analysis of joint and survivor valuations, including detailed explanation of joint mortality
• Expanded discussion and case law citations of the subtraction, tracing, and coverture methods of defined contribution valuations
• New case studies and detailed analyses of the three valuation methods, with explanation of the time-weighted rate of return

• 1. PENSION ASSETS IN DIVORCE
  • Divorce and Marital Property
  • Pensions in General
  • Types of Pension Plans
  • Theory of Pensions in Divorce
  • The Pension Paradigm
  • Allocation Approaches
  • Sample Options at Retirement
• 2. DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLANS
  • Pay Basis
  • Benefit Formulas
  • Adding Purchased Service to Benefit Formula
  • Benefit Calculations
  • Anatomy of an Annuity
  • Joint-and-Survivor Annuity
  • Benefit Statements
  • Erroneous Benefit Estimates
  • Seeking General Information
  • Valuation Request Form
• 3. DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS
  • Individual Accounts
  • Thrift Savings Plan for Federal Employees
  • 401(k) Plan
  • Stock Ownership, Option, or Bonus Plan
  • Vested and Non-Vested Account Balances
  • Investment Trust
• 4. CHALLENGING THE PENSION EXPERT
• 5. FEDERAL RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
  • Pensions for Federal Employees
  • Thrift Savings Plan
  • Civil Service Retirement System
  • Federal Employees Retirement System
  • Valuation of CSRS and FERS Benefit
  • CSRS and FERS Plan Provisions
  • Comparison of CSRS and FERS
  • Postal Workers' Pensions
  • Federal Civil Service Annuity as a Pension
  • Naming the Court Order
  • Alternative Form of Annuity Option
  • Cancellation of Survivor Annuity
• 6. STATUTORY FRAMEWORK FOR RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
  • Internal Revenue Code
  • Employee Retirement Income Security Act
  • Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
  • Retirement Equity Act
  • General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
  • The 30-Year Bond Rate Problem
  • Pension Funding Equity Act
  • Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
  • Effect of Pension Protection Act of 2006 on Cash-Outs
  • Qualified Optional Survivor Annuity
• 7. PLAN ADMINISTRATION
  • Importance of ERISA Status
  • Plan Qualification
  • Plan Documentation
  • Plan Administrator
  • Enrolled Actuary
  • Required Disclosures
  • Fees
  • Required Filings
  • Plan Assets
  • Actuarial Reports
  • Breach of Fiduciary Duty
  • Actuarial Filings - New Schedules in 2009
• 8. TERMINATION AND RETIREMENT
  • Vesting
  • Termination of Employment
  • Deferred Payment
  • Normal Retirement Age
  • Early Retirement
  • Retiree in Pay Status
  • Disability Pensions vs. Retirement Pensions
  • Reemployment After Retirement
• 9. MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
  • Questions for a New Client
  • Documentation
  • Marital Agreements
  • Multiple Marriages and Divorces
  • Sample Interrogatories Concerning Retirement and Deferred Income Plans
  • Bifurcated Divorce
  • Annulment
  • Improper Payout
  • ERISA Preemption
  • Prenuptial Agreements and Waiver of Pension Benefits
  • Frequently Asked Questions by the Employee-Spouse
  • Frequently Asked Questions by the Nonemployee-Spouse
  • Bigamy
  • Same-Sex Marriage
• 10. DEATH AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
  • Preretirement and Postretirement DeathBenefits
  • Death Benefits and Divorce
  • Death and Survivor Benefits Awarded Under QDRO or Other Court Order
  • Life Expectancy
  • Life Insurance
  • Retirement Options and Actuarial Equivalents
  • Considering a Joint-and-Survivor Option
  • Effect of Second Marriages
  • Death of Retiree and Absence of Spouse
  • Death of Survivor and Remarriage of Retiree
  • ERISA Preemption
  • Plan Elimination of Death Benefit
• 11. DEPRIVATION OF BENEFITS
  • Alienation and Attachment
  • Vesting and Forfeitures
  • Waivers
  • Reduction in Benefits
  • Breaks in Service
  • Data Correction
  • Inflation
  • Bankruptcy
  • Wrongful Death
  • Postponement of Pension to Deny to Spouse
  • Removal of Joint-and-Survivor Coverage
  • Cancellation or Loss of Early Retirement Benefits
  • Incorrect Benefit Statements
  • Criminal Activity
  • Uneven Treatment: Professional Golfers
  • Employees Terminated with Vested Rights Not Entitled to Immediate Early Retirement Benefits
  • Alternate Payee Beneficiary Problem
  • Unavailable Survivor Benefits: Replacement with Life Insurance
  • Loss of Benefits by "Phantom Benefit"
  • Last-Minute Plan Amendment to Benefit Only Select Employees
  • No QDRO in Missouri
  • Abandoned Plan
  • Special Retirement Documentation Dispute
  • When Is a Deferred Vested Benefit a Pension Benefit?
  • Pregnancy Leave
  • Severance Pay
• 12. TIME VALUE OF MONEY
  • Money Now and Then
  • Accounting for Interest
  • Discount and Projection
  • Impact of Interest Rates on Present Value
  • Sources of Interest Rates
  • Impact of Interest Rate Assumptions
  • Mortality
• 13. VALUATION OF A DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLAN
  • Information Needed for Pension Valuation
  • What Is Present Value?
  • Valuation Date
  • Time Rule/Coverture Fraction
  • Computation Dates
  • Continuation or Absence of Contributions
  • Pension in Pay Status
  • The Pension Algorithm
  • Negative Pension Value
  • Incorrect Benefit Statements
  • Relative Values of Pension Benefits
  • Mortality
  • When Not to Have a Pension Valuation
  • Cost-of-Living Adjustments
  • When Husband and Wife Each Have a Pension
  • When Husband and Wife Have Different Benefit Plans
  • Effect of Normal Retirement Age
  • Lump-Sum Value
  • Expert Witness Standards
• 14. VALUATION OF A DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN
  • Complications
  • Valuation Features
  • Investment Returns on Opening Balance
  • Subtraction Method
  • The Coverture Fraction (Time Rule)
  • Present Value vs. Deferred Distribution
  • Estimating Values with Incomplete Data
  • Valuation Considerations in Defined Contribution Plans
• 15. FUNDING
  • Typical Funding of a Pension Plan
  • Contributions to Defined Benefit Pension Plans
  • Annuity Contracts
• 16. SOCIAL SECURITY
  • Social Security Retirement Age
  • Early Social Security Retirement
  • Pension Benefits as a Surrogate for Social Security
  • Spousal Social Security Benefits
  • Social Security in the Pension Formula
  • Social Security in Decrees of Divorce
  • Social Security and Federal Pension Values
  • Social Security as an Offset
  • Social Security Valued with Inflation
• 17. PENSION COURT ORDERS
  • DROs and QDROs
  • Plans Subject to Court Orders
  • Information Needed
  • Drafting Considerations
  • Pension Allocation Formulas
  • Shared vs. Separate Payment of Benefits
  • Division of Investments in Defined Contribution QDROs
  • Standardized QDROs
  • Belated QDRO
  • Pension Court Order Review Checklist
  • Sample Pension Court Orders
  • QDRO Expenses
  • Attorneys' Fees
  • QDRO as a Contract
  • Determining Whether a Document Is a QDRO
  • Distribution Without a QDRO
  • QDRO Conditions for Joint-and-Survivor Coverage
  • Submission of a QDRO by a Proper Person
  • Administrative Conditions for Receiving QDRO Payments
  • A Clarification Is Not an Amendment to a QDRO
  • Updated QDRO Guidance
• 18. TAXATION AND PENALTIES
  • Retirement Annuity
  • Tax Basis
  • Withholding
  • Optional Forms of Payment
  • Death Before Retirement
  • Survivor Beneficiary After Retirement
  • Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Plans
  • Withholding and Penalty
  • QDRO Payments
  • IRA Transfer in Divorce
  • The IRA Paradox
  • Taxation on Transfer of Marital Property
  • Order to Pay Taxes and Penalties
  • Taxation of Alimony, Spousal Support, or Child Support
• 19. CASH BALANCE PENSION PLANS
  • Features of a Cash Balance Plan
  • A Cash Balance Plan by Any Other Name
  • Cash Balance Plateau Effect
  • Pension Equity Cash Balance Plan
  • Early Retirement and the Cash Balance Plan
  • Controversy over Cash Balance Plans
• 20. BANKRUPTCY
  • Filing for Bankruptcy
  • Bankruptcy, the IRS, and ERISA
  • The U.S. Supreme Court
  • Benefit Increases
  • Divorce and Bankruptcy
• 21. CHILD SUPPORT
  • Welfare Reform Act
  • Defined Benefit Plan Problem
  • Defined Contribution Plans and Child Support
  • Taxes on Pension Distributions for Child Support
  • Tax Withholding
  • Payment of Funds
• 22. NONQUALIFIED PLANS
  • Section 457 Plans
  • Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans
  • Section 403(b) Plans
• 23. MILITARY PENSIONS IN DIVORCE
  • Jurisdiction
  • Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
  • Survivor Benefit Plan for Retired Military Personnel
  • Military Reservists’ Retirement Benefits
  • Military Life Insurance
  • Law Governing Division of Military Pensions
  • The 10-Year Rule
  • Form DD 2293
  • Potential Pension Value
  • Vesting
  • Relief from Early Retirement Penalty
  • Distribution from Military Pension as Alimony
• 24. RAILROAD RETIREMENT BENEFITS
  • In General
  • Railroad Retirement Benefit Tiers I and II