“Where the non-custodial parent has a pension/retirement plan through his employer, child and spousal support payments and arrears may be collected directly from the plan through the use of a Qualified Domestic Relations Order for Support. Similar to the QDROs dividing each spouse’s interest in a pension/retirement plan, the QDRO for support must be “qualified” or approved by the plan. A proposed QDRO for support can be served on the plan seeking their approval prior to having the QDRO for support signed by the court.”
“The QDRO for support is a type of earnings assignment order, similar to the IWO, and is therefore unrelated to the QDRO dividing the community property interest. Additionally, as with other types of earnings assignment orders, the QDRO for support must be signed by the court in order to be enforceable. The QDRO for support can be prepared along with a request for order for arrears or it can be filed separately, whenever the need arises. However, note that arrears should not be included on the QDRO for support unless and until the court has made a specific order for arrears.”
“Once the QDRO for support has been signed by the court, it must be served on the plan along with an attachment listing the parties’ social security numbers.”
[California Family Law Basics [certain citations omitted]]
