Marriage of Akpati CA2/8

BACKGROUND

Appellant submitted an incomplete record on appeal, so we have gleaned the following facts from the documents she has submitted. This case began with a petition for legal separation filed on August 19, 2003. Based on a marital settlement agreement, final judgment was entered on April 12, 2006. No appeal was taken from that judgment. It appears that, between 2006 and 2008, respondent attempted to join into the action several employment benefit and pension plans. Respondent filed a motion on February 7, 2008, which likely was for entry of a QDRO related to the pension and benefit plans. The hearing on the motion was continued at least twice, based on appellant‟s concerns about withdrawals from the pension plans, and was set for hearing on October 22, 2008. Respondent served discovery requests in August 2008 seeking more information on appellant‟s allegations, but appellant failed to respond. The case summary reflects the court entered an “Order-- Qualified Dom. Relat (QDRO)” and an “Order--After Hearing” on October 29, 2008 (the 2008 QDRO).

A QDRO is defined by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, title 29 of the United States Code section…