401k must be QDRO'd?

[FF/PM]

From a divorce decree in Idaho....

She has a divorce decree where she is awarded 150,000 from her ex’s 401k. The language of the award says “Wife receives $150,000.00 from H’s retirement account and H keeps the remainder”

My interpretation is that he needs to give her $150,000 check, he says she needs to QDRO it. It seems to me he didn’t word the stipulation correctly. This was a very messy and nasty divorce where there is still crap happening, and although the decree is from June, he has still not paid her.

So, must an award from a 401k be QDRO'd, or is he required to make a withdrawal per the exact language of the decree?

 

[cbg]

You know very little about retirement plans if you think someone can just write a check for $150,000 on one. Of course it's got to be QDRO'd. Federal law has very, very strict limits on distributions from retirement plans. You CAN QDRO them. You CANNOT just make a withdrawal the way you can a savings account.

 

[Silverplum]

From a divorce decree in Idaho....

She has a divorce decree where she is awarded 150,000 from her ex’s 401k. The language of the award says “Wife receives $150,000.00 from H’s retirement account and H keeps the remainder”

My interpretation is that he needs to give her $150,000 check, he says she needs to QDRO it. It seems to me he didn’t word the stipulation correctly. This was a very messy and nasty divorce where there is still crap happening, and although the decree is from June, he has still not paid her.

So, must an award from a 401k be QDRO'd, or is he required to make a withdrawal per the exact language of the decree?

We're not here to do your homework, nor help you meddle in someone else's legal matters. Your "interpretation" is of no value.

 

[stealth2]

It seems to me that she should be asking her own legal questions...

 

[LdiJ]

You know very little about retirement plans if you think someone can just write a check for $150,000 on one. Of course it's got to be QDRO'd. Federal law has very, very strict limits on distributions from retirement plans. You CAN QDRO them. You CANNOT just make a withdrawal the way you can a savings account.

Ditto...and it would be highly foolish of him to do it the OP's way even if it were possible. All that would do would cause tax complications for him. However, while a QDRO absolutely needs to be done, his assertion that she needs to be the one to do the paperwork is not necessarily correct. It may be correct, or it may not be.

 

[cbg]

Hmmm...I didn't read it that way but I may have been so caught by the absurd assumption that this could be done without a QDRO that I overlooked it. You are, of course, absolutely correct. Good catch, L.