Hello everyone,
I have a case in which the Wife had a 401K account. Husband was awarded a 50% interest in the 401K in the divorce decree entered on 2/26/21. Husband then died on 10/5/21 before a QDRO was entered. The state court then entered a DRO on 1/5/24 designating the Husband's estate as the alternate payee. The plan administrator determined that the DRO was not qualified, because a spouse's estate is not among the list of acceptable alternate payees under IRC § 414(p)(8). A second DRO was then entered by the state court on 2/29/24, this time designating the parties' adult daughter as the alternate payee. (The adult daughter was appointed as administrator of Husband's estate on 3/24/23 and is the sole heir). The plan administrator again found that the DRO was not qualified, because the DRO indicated that the child could not be listed as alternate payee based on marital property rights, only based on child support obligations.
I have seen posts here indicating that a DRO is not unqualified merely because the Participant died before entry of the DRO, but I cannot find any information on whether a DRO entered after the alternate payee's death is qualified.
I suppose I could just get an order from the state court requiring Wife to liquidate the portion of the 401K awarded to the Husband and pay the proceeds net of taxes to the adult daughter, but the daughter would rather not liquidate the entire account at one time, to reduce tax liability.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Roger Madison
Olympia, Washington