Illinois case law regarding retirement benefits, Qualified Domestic Relations Orders and QILDROs is one of the most critical areas. Many of the cases in the last ten years have focused on QILDRO type issues because of the critical limitation imposed when the QILDRO legislation was passed in 1999, that is, there had to be a consent for issuance of the QILDRO for the QILDRO to be entered. To get around the problems faced by this, a number of cases have staked out how one can get around the problems faced when a former spouse refuses to sign a consent to issue a QILDRO. Other cases that are critical to understand involve the problems when the QDRO or the QILDRO are not entered at the time of the divorce. And the most recent important line of cases involves social security benefits. Basically, we are dealing with the fact that Federal law preempts state law and this creates a number of problems.
