Florida QDRO

Florida retirement division pivots on the FRS election: did the participant choose the Pension Plan (defined benefit) or the Investment Plan (defined contribution)? The order type, the analysis, and the timing of payment all differ between the two. Plus the usual private-sector mix.

Florida has no state income tax, so a QDRO distribution to a Florida resident has no Florida state tax withholding to plan around. Federal tax rules still apply, and the order is drafted to the plan's procedures either way.

Private plans: QDRO

Florida divorces involving private 401(k)s, 403(b)s, IRAs, and private defined-benefit pensions follow the standard ERISA QDRO playbook. The court order is a QDRO drafted to the plan administrator's procedures. Florida law shapes the underlying settlement; ERISA shapes the QDRO.

FRS: the Pension Plan vs Investment Plan election

The Florida Retirement System covers state employees, county employees, school district employees, and most other Florida governmental employees. Participants elect between two plan structures at enrollment:

FRS Pension Plan (defined benefit)

The traditional defined-benefit plan. Pension paid by formula based on years of credited service, average final compensation, and a service-credit-multiplier rate. Divided by a Division-acceptable retirement-division order, typically using a coverture-fraction allocation.

Survivor benefits and post-retirement adjustments must be addressed in the order.

FRS Investment Plan (defined contribution)

The defined-contribution alternative. Recordkept by a third-party provider (currently Voya). The participant's account balance represents the actual asset, similar to a 401(k). Division is by a plan-acceptable QDRO-style order, with the marital portion calculated from the Investment Plan statements.

DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Program)

DROP is a feature available to certain FRS Pension Plan participants. The participant elects to retire on paper, freezing the pension calculation, while continuing to work and earn salary. The would-be monthly pension payments accumulate in a DROP account that earns interest. At the end of the DROP period, the participant separates from service, and the DROP account becomes payable as a lump sum or rollover.

DROP changes the divorce analysis in two ways:

• The DROP account itself is a marital or partially-marital asset, depending on when the DROP period overlapped the marriage.
• The underlying pension calculation is frozen at the DROP election date, which affects coverture-fraction treatment for post-DROP years.

The settlement and the order should explicitly address DROP treatment.

Florida coverture approach

Florida courts generally apply a coverture-fraction approach to defined-benefit pension division:

Marital share = (Years of credited service during marriage / Total credited service) × Accrued benefit

Florida is an equitable-distribution state with case law shaping how the coverture treatment applies in specific scenarios, especially around DROP and post-divorce service.

Diffenderfer v. Diffenderfer (Fla. 1986) is the Florida Supreme Court decision confirming that pension and retirement benefits earned during the marriage are a marital asset subject to equitable distribution, and cautioning against counting the same benefit twice.

Local plans and exceptions

Not every Florida public employee is in FRS. Some local jurisdictions maintain their own plans:

• The City of Jacksonville maintains the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund (separate from FRS).
• Some Florida sheriff's offices and municipal police/fire departments have local pensions outside FRS.
• Certain special districts maintain their own retirement plans.

The plan name on the participant's statement controls. Do not assume FRS coverage for every Florida public employee.

What TOVA does not do

• We do not provide legal advice. Counsel makes the legal calls.
• We do not provide tax advice. The client's CPA handles tax.
• We do not make strategic litigation decisions. We document what the records show and what the plan can administer.
• We do not advise on state-law equitable-distribution or community-property characterization. Counsel makes those legal calls.

What we need to start a Florida case

• The most recent statement for every retirement asset.
• The petition for dissolution or marital settlement agreement.
• The Date of Marriage and the cutoff date.
• For private plans: the plan name from the statement.
• For FRS: whether the participant is in the Pension Plan or the Investment Plan, the participant's class of service, and (if Pension Plan) any DROP election.
• For local plans: the plan name and the plan's QDRO/DRO procedures if available.

For related context, see the order type guide, the forensic tracing guide, the pension division guide, the QDRO rejection diagnosis guide, and the pricing page.