A qualified domestic relations order or QDRO, pronounced ("cue-dro" or "qua-dro"), is a judicial order in the United States, entered as part of a property division in a divorce or legal separation that splits a retirement plan or pension plan by recognizing joint marital ownership interests in the plan, specifically the former spouse's interest in that spouse's share of the asset. A QDRO's recognition of spousal ownership interest in a plan participant's employee's pension plan awards a portion of the plan participant's benefit to an alternate payee. An alternate payee must be a spouse, former spouse, child or other dependent of the plan participant. A QDRO may also be entered for spousal support or child support

QDROs must first be issued by a State-level domestic relations court, and are then reviewed by plan administrators for compliance with the terms of the plan and with ERISA or other applicable law. The QDRO may be a separate document or it may be part of a divorce decree, and is valid as long as it meets the standards for a qualified domestic relations order under ERISA and meets the standards of the plan to which it applies. Courts have jurisdiction to declare a QDRO "qualified" as comporting with federal law, but pension plan administrators must determine whether a QDRO meets the requirements of a specific pension plan.

A domestic relations order is any judgment, decree, or order (including approval of a property settlement agreement) which relates to the provision of child support, alimony payments, or marital property rights to a spouse, former spouse, child, or other dependent of a participant, and is made pursuant to a State domestic relations law (including a community property law). An alternate payee must meet ERISA's definition of an alternate payee - any spouse, former spouse, child or other dependent of a plan participant who is recognized by a domestic relations order as having a right to receive all, or a portion of, the benefits payable under a plan with respect to such participant. Most States will allow QDROs to be entered to collect both past due and future child support payments.