Wish i could help but i know nothing aboutthat sort of thing.
I hope someone here will know the answer for you.

hugs

A QDRO is a court approved order to split up a retirement account. It protects your rights and tells the plan administrator that you have a right to your portion of those retirement funds.

Don't listen to your stbx. You need to go ahead and have this done legally. You or someone needs to contact the plan for the proper wording for the QDRO. When the plan administrator gets the QDRO papers the fund will be frozen and your part split from his. It can take from 6 months to a year to have this put into your name with your own account. During that time it will be valued with the rise and fall of the markets. If the wording is not correct the plan administrator will send it back with instructions on how to correct it. That will have to go back to the court and then sent to the plan.

It's important that you do get someone who knows how to do this. I had four done and one did come back. There were only minor mistakes in it and was easily corrected. Once you get the final approval you will be able to move it or possibly leave it where it is and your stbx will not have access to it.

I can't give you the legal advise, but I can tell you I just went through this. There is now a QDRO in place that moves part of my Xs retirement $$s to me. It was something that we had to do the paperwork over a couple times to get it right due to how the county that I live it wanted the wording to be in the decree. AND... I think my lawyer didn't know what he was doing, but that is another story. So, basically, I would strongly suggest doing your homework on this and getting the details done by an experienced lawyer. I did a lot of reading on-line on QDROs too... google search, etc., just so I could increase my understanding. Good luck!

My atty is doing it for me and trust me if your husband isnt trust worthy like mine let the lawyers do it. Then it is legally binding to make sure you get your half and you can do whatever you want with it. Cash it out, roll it over into a roth or another investment company or you can choose to divide it up or leave it where it is only your half will be in your name. Like I said my ex is a real ass and my astty had to threaten contempt of court to get him to even get the paper work in so we could proceed on getting it filed. He hasnt been helpful on anything unless forced to do it. Still in the process so hopefully ther transition will go smooth. I wish you well and pray your stbx isnt an ass like mine Peace&love

My atty is doing it for me and trust me if your husband isnt trust worthy like mine let the lawyers do it. Then it is legally binding to make sure you get your half and you can do whatever you want with it. Cash it out, roll it over into a roth or another investment company or you can choose to divide it up or leave it where it is only your half will be in your name. Like I said my ex is a real ass and my astty had to threaten contempt of court to get him to even get the paper work in so we could proceed on getting it filed. He hasnt been helpful on anything unless forced to do it. Still in the process so hopefully ther transition will go smooth. I wish you well and pray your stbx isnt an ass like mine PeaceLove

Here in Maryland (and I'm guessing this is nationwide) a QDRO MUST BE prepared by an attorney and is usually handled by one who SPECIALIZES in this sort of thing. As Trisha said, this protects the funds and sets a date as of when the funds are VALUED (in my case, it was as of the date of the final divorce decree) which would also protect YOU from a drop in the market value of those funds.

You can't simply take money out of one account and put it into another without paying a penalty. The QDRO gives all the nuts and bolts of how the transfer of funds is to be handled.

The attorney who prepares the QDRO might be yours or his (if they are qualified to do it) and it might be a third attorney. The cost of preparing the document is minimal and in most cases, the fee is to be split between the two of you, which is fair.

Whatever you do, make sure you get this done as quickly as possible. You might have to light a fire under your X's behind and beat him with a whip to keep it moving (I did) but eventually, it will be completed. Mine took about 6 months because he wanted to argue about the valuation date. Dumbshit evidently couldn't read what HE HAD AGREED TO in the Financial Settlement agreement.

You have to have the QDRO - make sure you do it - don't listen to your X. I think prep cost us $500.00. One thing I did see about it - was that - if my H was taking from my 401K and if he decided to do a cash distribution, if I did not have the QDRO in place, I would be liable for the tax implications of those funds.

I don't know what he plans on doing - whether it be cash dist., or to do rollover, but I wasn't taking any chances and I insisted on the QDRO.

You cannot move funds from one account to another without a QDRO--most retirement plans will not allow this.

QDRO's do cost extra to do--in my case, a separate firm took care of that sort of thing and it was going to cost an additional $1,500 to prepare.

My idiot ex also didn't understand QDRO's. At our final hearing, he and I came to a stalemate during negotiations. When our attorneys left the room to go talk to the magistrate, he commented and said, "You're just afraid because you knew you were going to have to write me a big check today." I replied, "Shows what you know, dumbass. Do you know what a QDRO is? (He didn't--he never talked with his lawyer). A QDRO is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order and NO MONEY MOVES WITHOUT ONE. Furthermore, the money is simply rolled over from one account to another in most cases. I wouldn't be writing you a check and you wouldn't get your hands on the money until you retired."

He was speechless. I guess he must have promised the skank ho/now wife a big payoff at the end of the final hearing day. Wonder how he explained his empty pockets, lack of check, AND ABSOLUTELY NO SHARE IN MY RETIREMENT OR 403b ACCOUNT when he got home~LOL?!

Don't listen to your stbx. Sounds like he's an idiot just like mine was.

Stay strong.

You don't have to wait on the stbx to get the paperwork to file for the QDRO. I called the phone number on our statements and told them I was getting a divorce and needed the required wording to send them a QDRO. The man asked if I wanted one for the retirement pension too. I said sure send me that one too.

It's a good thing I made that call because I forgot about that pension. So that phone call I made instead of waiting for the ex to get around to it netted me an extra $500 a month.

Call and get the info yourself. It will be much faster.

Just to clarify I took a percentage of three accts. They were valued from the date the settlement was approved. The amount you receive will change with the rise and fall of the market. If you have a dollar amount then that is what you will receive.

You might be able to do a QDRO on the joint acct. I wouldn't want to try to split that one up. It would be a lot easier to have a QDRO on that one too.

Also once the plan administrator's get the notice of the QDRO you don't have to contact the ex. Any questions you have can be answered by the plans you are splitting. No need to talk to the ex about it again.

I didn't read everyone's answer. Yes you HAVE to have a QDRO in order to get the funds released. My EX refused to pay our attorney the money she wanted to do it. He said since it was my money I had to pay to get it. I got a copy of an example from the EX's employer. I don't recall what the name of the department is there, sorry. Anyway, I did my own QDRO. Once everyone was happy with the wording and signed off on it I was able to move the funds over into my own account.

Kathi you X is my X her did the samething trying to send in the wrong outdated reports and tried to tell then the wrong date. My Atty made it at the end of the first quarter and he tried to tell them the wrong date jut to stall and when i told him that isw was suppose to end of the first quarter he tried to tell me tough im not calling them and changing it you get what you get. I said OH HELL NOOOOOOOO ansd he had to change it or it would be contempt of court. Didnt need the added stress. Still fighting over legal matters thast he hasnt complied with documents thast were suppose to be in by a certain date that was set to has these matters completed. 401k finally in after being a month late from court asigned date grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Kicker to all of this is the devorce was his idea not mine now he wants to slow down the legal process and seperating the finances. Still trying to control everything the jerk. So i say as far as the financials do it right legally, professionally and protect yourself cause the X has no concern for you at all. Hopefully when if is all over you will never hve to visit thsi crap again cause it was done right and everything is in black and white. I must say it is very stressful if your X is saten!!! He will fight you all the way and not even acknowlege game over ! Resting for round 3 or maybe its for lost track hahahah Live to fight another day ;) peace&love

If you have investments, 401k, 402b's or any deferred tax accounts, retirements, pensions a QDRO is the means to first value them, and then divide. IF you are dividing them in a divorce! Most lawyers do not do it, a consulting firm that specializes in doing this is hired, and the court approves the firm that is hired. Here, that company has to be licensed and approved by the court, both parties. All this is, is a way to determine the value and divide it, as most pensions for example are based on a projected future amount as an example. Or think of it this way, a mutual fund or other investment often changes daily as to what it is worth.

You do not need a QDRO to transfer money or take money out of 401ks, or any investment, but if it is a tax deferred, meaning you pay taxes when you take it, hopefully after age 59.5 when there is no penalty for early withdrawal, but the tax law states this, if you do not move it to another 401k or other account that is tax deferred, you then have to pay income tax on it. AND a penalty. This is not just for divorce, for anything. If you have a 401k or other similar accounts, and want to move it, or leave a job and take it with you, you never " touch" the check they call it. Because if you even put it in a non tax deferred account for one day, you have now added that to your income and will be taxes.

This is my short version in my terms of what this is, the short version. If you need a Qualified Domestic Relations Order in your divorce, you do not want just anyone doing it, you need someone that specialized in it, usually a consulting firm. Yes, you do have to split the cost they charge. In some cases it is simple. I divorced in April, it took until Nov for me to get everything we agreed on. It involved our own personal Fidelity account that had a lot of different mutual funds, CDs etc in that, two 401ks, some bonds of our own and his pension. I want to add that it is what you agree on in your divorce settlement, some think it is all 50/50... I traded out some investments to buy him out of the house.

Even with all this, I had to call my exes business and find out what the status was of the pension. I asked for all the contact information, as I had none and when I am 62 or 66 or whenever, I would need that to start collecting it. They are a huge Fortune 500 company.. and the only reason I knew to do that, I worked in HR for a long time. The VP of HR called me and apologized and sent it.. but that is an example of you have to keep track of all of it.

The lawyers do not make money off this, and that is the reason there are firms that do it, is because the lawyer do not want the responsibility or the liability. When I got divorced I asked my lawyer did his firm do it.. and he said, no and you tell me why. That is what my answer was, and that is why the don't. This is just my experience and the best advice is from your lawyer, not the stbx. HUGS
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Too much coffee for me.. correction.. if you do not have complicated investments, it can be a simple transfer, but it is not usually 50/50.. because Moscato is right, some are worth more, and some less. That is why it is not just easy to divide.
. I let him take the CD"s for example, and in hindsight, maybe should have added some to my side... cause those are a sure thing. I got it all the cash money side moved into my own new Fidelity account, and the bottom fell out of the market. I said it was luck, my lawyer said your dead dad was looking out for you, because I put it in a safe cash reserve account to figure out what to do.. and it was safe and nothing got lost!

AND writing this, I remember what an ass my ex was, he was angry, I think the money side really hit him after the divorce.. because it took so long, he kept e-mailing me and telling me if I DID NOT open and send him the number of a new Fidelity or other account he was just going to send me a check, cause he knew that I knew that would make me pay taxes on it. BUT since he had nothing to do with it, the QDRO firm did, I ignored him. My lawyer said he just wants to contact you and fight.. and I never spoke to him again after the divorce....

Mine was for my share of his 401k. I did my own QDRO following an example provided by someone at the EX's Employer's HR office. I had to take it to the judge to get it signed and recorded. I found a copy if you want me to send it to you. I thought about trying to upload it here but it's like 4 pages long. Even if you don't do it yourself you can look at it so you get a better understanding what it is. Or google "sample QDRO and see what comes up.

The only thing worng with that Misred is that each plan administrator may require slightly different wording. The one from B was different from the one here in SC. The one from his union was slightly different from the other two.

The one for the pension was different and if they aren't worded correctly they get sent back to be reworked. If it is determined after about 18 months that the QDRO isn't going to be worded correctly you lose it and it goes back to the ex. That is what I read myself in the instructions that were sent to me.