FreeQDRO

Provided without warranty. Verify every figure against the primary sources before relying on it. Not legal advice. See Terms.

QDRO tools · NRS 125.155 / 286.6703

Retirement division

Estimate the community and alternate-payee share of a retirement benefit and see which order applies - QDRO, PERS DRO, military order, COAP, or IRA transfer.

Plan type
Monthly benefit
Service months during marriage
Total service months
Alternate payee share (%)

Ready to go beyond the estimate?

The free QDRO Preparer assembles the actual draft order - PERS, QDRO, military, federal, TSP, or IRA - from each plan’s official model language, with every election explained in plain English and left to counsel or the party filing in proper person. Nothing you type is stored.

Open the Preparer

Already have a draft order?

The free QDRO Scrutinizer reviews a draft order - yours or the other side’s - and returns a cited checklist of what may be missing - required elements, plan-type mismatches, and survivor and valuation gaps. Reviewed entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

Review an order

Common questions

QDROs & retirement division, answered

What is a QDRO?
A Qualified Domestic Relations Order is the federal-law mechanism (29 U.S.C. 1056(d)(3)) that lets a private retirement plan pay part of a participant's benefit to a former spouse. Government and military plans use their own equivalents - a PERS DRO, a USFSPA order, or a federal COAP - not a QDRO.
How is a pension divided in a divorce?
The answer varies by state, and the preparer applies the decree state's rule. In Nevada, for example, the community-property time rule governs: the community share is the pension multiplied by the coverture fraction (service during the marriage divided by total service), and the alternate payee typically receives half of that (NRS 125.150; Gemma v. Gemma; Fondi v. Fondi).
Does a state public pension use a QDRO?
No. State and local government plans are exempt from ERISA and each is divided by its own domestic relations order under the system's statute and model. In Nevada, for example, PERS is divided by a PERS-compliant DRO under NRS 286.6703, and NRS 125.155 requires the value to be frozen at divorce - excluding post-divorce raises and promotions - unlike the wait-and-see rule that governs private pensions. The rule varies by state, and the preparer applies the decree state's.
Are survivor benefits automatic when a pension is divided?
No. Survivor coverage must be expressly set forth in the order or it is lost; the exact election and its authority vary by state and plan, and the preparer applies the decree state's rule. In Nevada, for example, Henson v. Henson and NRS 125.155(3) require it in the order itself. Omitting survivor coverage is the single most common and costly drafting failure.

Informational only, not legal advice. A retirement-division order must be reviewed by counsel and accepted by the plan administrator. Consult a licensed attorney in the state that entered your decree.