Although the U.S. divorce rate is in a steady decline, it’s still one of the highest in the world. And with divorces often come QDROs – “qualified domestic relations orders.” A QDRO is a state court order obtained by divorcing couples that requires a company plan to pay a portion of the benefit of the spouse participating in the plan to the other spouse.
One important way that IRAs differ from company retirement plans is with respect to spousal financial rights. Most married IRA owners do not need spousal consent before designating a beneficiary other than the spouse. By contrast, most married plan participants do need to get their spouse to agree to a non-spouse beneficiary. And married participants in some types of plans also need spousal consent before taking a lump sum distribution from the plan.
A recent federal court case from West Virginia illustrates that the spouse of a 401(k) participant usually has no right to prevent the plan from paying the participant a lump sum distribution.
In Gifford v. Burton, a Mr. Gifford (his first name is omitted in the decision) was an optician at Walmart and a participant in the Walmart 401(k) plan. He was married to Sara Gifford, who was his sole beneficiary under the plan. In February 2021, Mr. Gifford received a distribution of all of his 401(k) funds and deposited those funds into an IRA. He then designated his daughter, Emma Gifford, as 90% beneficiary of his IRA and wife Sara as 10% beneficiary.
Those of you who participate in 401(k) plans or certain 403(b) plans should see something new on your next quarterly statement for the period ending June 30, 2022.
For the first time, the statements must include illustrations of the monthly payments you would receive if your current plan account balance was used to purchase an annuity. This new requirement is part of the SECURE Act passed by Congress in December 2019. Congress intended that employees will see the illustrations and realize that their lump sum account balance may not produce high enough monthly income to last their lifetime. This, in turn, will persuade workers to increase their retirement plan savings rate.
One question that continues to come up is whether company retirement plan dollars are protected from creditors. This becomes an issue if you are forced to declare bankruptcy or you owe money after a legal action is brought against you.
Casinos have house rules. These rules dictate what patrons can and cannot do. They are often written down, posted, and there is no debating the validity of said guidelines. House rules govern all those under the purview of management. I have house rules of my own when it comes to card games, darts, boardgames and any other source of competition. House rules can also apply to non-competitive situations. No swearing. Take your shoes off. Don’t sit on the good furniture in the living room.
With the recent economic downturn, you may be more concerned than ever about keeping retirement plan funds safe from creditors.
If you participate in a plan covered by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), you can sleep well at night. Your plan accounts are completely shielded from creditors – whether or not you’ve declared bankruptcy. (Not surprisingly, there is an exception allowing the IRS to recoup unpaid taxes.)
On April 13, President Trump signed into law legislation that blocked Obama-era Department of Labor (DOL) regulations encouraging the establishment of IRA plans run by cities and municipalities. On May 17, he signed similar legislation applying to state-run IRAs. While these new developments may make the road ahead for both city and state run IRA plans more difficult, these plans are not going away.
This week's Slott Report Mailbag examines ERISA creditor protection differences for 401(k)s and IRAs and answers a consumer's question on funding a Roth IRA.
Your state may soon be getting into the IRA business. The Department of Labor (DOL) removed a major hurdle recently, when it issued final rules for state-run IRA programs. The final rules give states a safe harbor from Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) for state-run IRAs if certain conditions are met.
