IRAs  401Ks  Pensions  Deferred Compensation  QDROs

— IRAs often don’t need QDROs. 401ks and Pensions need QDROs. 

QDROs direct a financial institution how to allocate payments based upon a percentage of working time compared to the entire distribution   whereas IRAs can actually be divided between accounts and transferred in lump sums.

Some financial institutions, however, don’t like to divide IRAs, and may require a copy of the MSA. 

I recommend that whoever writes your MSA have a separate page within the MSA just dedicated to the IRAs. That way you can provide pages one which contains the names of the parties and the case numbers, the page distributing the IRAs and the last page with the signatures of the parties and the judge to the financial institution for division of the retirement assets. 

One more thing keep traditional, IRAs and Roth IRA separate as they have different tax implications. 

I am a Certified QDRO writer through the AACQP - the American Association of Certified QDRO Professionals.

If you need assistance, please contact Annette Brown, CDFA at 415-312-1987  or msannettebrown@gmail.com