Is your retirement division actually protected?
A QDRO is the court order that divides a retirement account in divorce. Get it wrong and the money can vanish, to taxes, to a rejection, or to a survivor-benefit gap. Start below and we'll show you what your situation involves, and how we coordinate the right legal professional to handle the order.
Which retirement accounts are part of your divorce?
Select all that apply. The type of account decides whether you even need a QDRO.
Common questions
Do you draft the QDRO?
No. We handle the financial analysis, the account values, the marital share, and the tax and long-term impact, and we coordinate with the legal professional who drafts the order and advises on it. We don't practice law or draft QDROs ourselves. Our role is to make sure the numbers your legal professional needs are right, so the order is right.
Do I need a QDRO for an IRA?
Almost never. IRAs are typically divided by a transfer incident to divorce under the decree, not by a QDRO. A QDRO is for employer-sponsored plans like 401(k)s and pensions. That said, a few custodians will ask for one anyway, so it's worth confirming with the institution. Either way, doing the transfer wrong, as a withdrawal instead of a trustee-to-trustee transfer, triggers tax and penalties, so the distinction matters regardless of which instrument is used.
What happens if we never file the QDRO?
The decree says the account is divided, but the plan won't act without a QDRO it accepts. The alternate payee never receives their share, and if the participant dies or withdraws the money first, the right to collect can disappear. Filing the QDRO promptly after the decree is the step that makes the division real.
Who pays for the QDRO?
It's negotiable like everything else in a divorce. The cost is typically allocated in the settlement agreement, sometimes split and sometimes assigned to one side. The financial analysis we provide is quoted upfront, and the legal professional who drafts the order sets their own fees.
How long does it take?
The drafting itself can be done in days once the financial data is ready. What takes time is getting the right account values, confirming the marital share, and making sure the order matches the plan's requirements. Then the plan takes its own time to review, typically a few weeks to a couple of months depending on the administrator.
What's a survivor benefit and why does it matter?
It's the provision that lets an alternate payee keep receiving pension payments if the participant dies first. Without it written into the QDRO, the pension can stop paying the alternate payee the moment the participant dies, even if they were supposed to receive payments for life. This is the single most expensive omission in pension division; it has to be addressed explicitly in the order.
Bring the numbers into focus.
One consultation. You'll leave knowing what we'd analyze, what it costs, and what it changes about your position.
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