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48 <br />3. DEFINITIONS TO QDRO EXHIBIT <br />Alternate Payee: An Alternate Payee is a Participant’s spouse, former spouse, child, or other <br />dependent who is assigned Plan benefits in a DRO. <br />Approval Letter: A letter to the interested parties that indicates QDRO Consultants has approved an <br />Executed DRO and explains how the Plan Administrator will administer the QDRO’s terms and <br />provisions. <br />Domestic Relations Order (DRO): Generally, a DRO is a court order, or an order issued by another <br />authorized state agency, that (1) is made pursuant to a state domestic relations law, and (2) provides <br />for payment of child support, alimony, or marital property rights to an Alternate Payee. <br />Empower: Empower is a retirement plan recordkeeping financial holding company based in <br />Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. <br />ERISA: ERISA is the acronym for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, <br />which governs most retirement and pension plans. <br />Executed DRO: A DRO that is signed and file stamped by the appropriate state court, or signed and <br />dated by the relevant state agency, including a copy of such DRO. <br />Participant: An individual who has a benefit in the Plan. <br />Plan: The defined contribution plan identified in these QDRO Procedures. <br />Plan Administrator: The person(s) or entity designated by the Plan’s sponsor to have primary <br />authority and responsibility to administer the Plan’s terms and provisions. <br />Pre-Approval Letter: A letter to the interested parties that indicates QDRO Consultants has approved <br />a draft DRO that would be a QDRO if it were an Executed DRO. <br />QDRO Consultants: QDRO Consultants Co., LLC (“QC”), was hired by Empower Retirement to review <br />DROs to determine whether DROs are qualified pursuant to the Plan’s QDRO procedures, and to send <br />relevant notices to the interested parties. <br />Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO): A QDRO is a DRO that (1) requires the Plan <br />Administrator to assign or transfer some or all of a Participant’s Plan benefits to an Alternate Payee, <br />2) contains the information required by ERISA Section 206(d)(3)(C), (3) does not violate the restrictions <br />in ERISA Section 206(d)(3)(D), and (4) satisfies the other requirements contained in these QDRO <br />Procedures. Also, a DRO is not a QDRO until QC has determined, consistent with the Plan <br />Administrator’s instructions, that the DRO is qualified. <br />4. QDRO CONTENTS. <br />Generally, a DRO must contain certain “required information” to be a QDRO, and should include certain <br />other “important information.” The subsections below discuss these categories of information in more <br />detail.