Q. Michael C. of Delaware asks: "Do I Need an Order to Split An IRA?"
A. Brett, from the QDRO Department of Pension Evaluators & QDROS Of Troyan, Inc Associates Group replies: "Yes, per IRC 408 (d) 6 an "IRA SPLIT ORDER" is required indicative to a marital dissolution action. An IRA SPLIT ORDER is a court order that requires a retirement plan to pay a portion of the retirement benefits of an employee or retiree (who is called the "participant") directly to the participant's spouse, former spouse, and/or dependent children (who are each called an "alternate payee"). In other words, IRA SPLIT ORDERs are almost identical to QDROs as described above, except they are found under a different section of the code and have a different set of approval phases and processes."
Brett Disdale
Lead QDRO Consultant