Fred belonged to a Union and had a pension plan based in Kansas. He divorced wife #1 with a QDRO (in Oregon) that entitled her to 1/2 his pension upon his retirement. He then married me, and made me beneficiary of said plan. We then divorced (In Oregon) with no mention of pension plan or QDRO. He never changed me as beneficiary. He then died. Six months later his first wife died. Two years later the plan administrator has told me that my beneficiary status is irrelevant because we divorced and because of his previous QDRO. Questions: Does our divorce nullify my beneficiary status? Does ERISA factor in? Since wife #1 was only given 1/2 the pension in the QDRO, what about the other 1/2? What is our child entitled to? The plan administrator is requiring me to set up a conservatorship filed with the court on behalf of our daughter in order to receive $200 monthly - is this necessary?
Thank you for taking the time to read this~ Please advise.
