Legal Opinion
In Re the Marriage of Rife
Supreme Court of Iowa
Decided March 29, 1995No. 93-1689PublishedCited by 4 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
HARRIS, Justice.
Can the corpus of a retirement plan be garnished to satisfy past-due support orders? The trial court thought yes and we agree.
Federal law protects retirement plans from misuse or invasion by such things as garnishment. 29 U.S.C. ch. 18 (employee retirement income security program [ERISA]). Exempt from this protection however are obligations known as “qualified domestic relations orders” [QDRO]. 29 U.S.C. § 1056. A QDRO is:
[A]ny judgment, decree or order made pursuant to a state domestic relations law ... which (1) “creates or recognizes the existence of an alternative payee’s…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Ablamis v. RoperCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1991
- West Branch State Bank v. GatesSupreme Court of Iowa · 1991
- Mallory v. MalloryNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division · 1981
3Cited by4 opinions
- Bruns v. Iowa District Court for Linn CountyCourt of Appeals of Iowa · 1995
- Clark Ex Rel. Clark v. Iowa Department of Human ServicesSupreme Court of Iowa · 1996
- Iannotti v. Iannotti, No. Fa-85-0238433-S (Jan. 17, 1997)Connecticut Superior Court · 1997
- State of Iowa v. Yoosuf MomentCourt of Appeals of Iowa · 2021