It is customary for the spouse who is receiving the funds to be the spouse responsible to pay the legal fees necessary to obtain the QDRO, and it will be that spouse’s attorney who actually creates and files the QDRO. Who drafts the QDRO?īecause of the complexity of these orders and the specific rules that must be followed, it is suggested that an attorney be the person responsible for drafting the QDRO. With regard to property division incident to divorce, the QDRO allows for a person to assign rights in a retirement account to another person, without having to make a withdrawal and suffer a tax penalty. What is a QDRO?Ī QDRO is a legal instrument that allows the plan owner to transfer rights to an alternate payee for the purposes of child support, spousal support, alimony, or property rights.
A QDRO is necessary to divide all qualified employer plans that are subject to ERISA, the 401(k) Plus Plan is exactly that. In order to divide the SAS 401(k) Retirement Plan incident to divorce, a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) must be obtained. How do you divide the SAS 401(k) Retirement Plan? Through Fidelity, SAS allows participants in the retirement plan to make certain changes, for instance alter the investments investment allocation of contributions, change the deferral amount, request a qualifying hardship withdrawal, and even borrow against the plan.
The vesting schedule of profit sharing contributions is as follows: Years of Service Profit sharing contributions are subject to vesting rules, however. SAS also allows the participant to participate in profit-sharing by making an annual discretionary profit sharing contribution.Įmployee elective deferrals, rollover contributions, and company safe harbor contributions are always considered 100% vested, and thus cannot be forfeited. First, the company may opt to make a safe harbor contribution to the Plan, which is determined at the beginning of each calendar year. SAS contributes to the plan in several ways. Eligible employees can contribute anywhere from 1% to 80% of pay, and may chose to structure this as a pre-tax elective deferral or an after-tax Roth elective deferral. SAS offers a profit sharing and 401(k) retirement plan as a benefit for employees to save for retirement on a tax-advantaged basis. What retirement benefits do SAS employees have access to?
This article is intended to help both spouses work through the difficult task of splitting SAS retirement benefits.
If you are a SAS employee or a non-employee spouse going through a divorce, you’ll want to know the details of how to divide the employee retirement benefits.
In addition to these benefits, SAS also offers very generous employee retirement benefits. Benefits at SAS are touted as some of the best available – on-site daycare, on-site health care, a 58,000 square foot recreation and fitness center, and even life counseling services for those going through divorce. SAS has an entire campus positioned right off of 1-40 where more than 5,000 people work.
SAS, one of world’s largest private software companies, is headquartered in Cary North Carolina.