release of account balance information

[Guest jmlumpkin]

tpa recently received a request from a child support enforcement agency to provide a participants account balance statement for an impending qdro.

is the tpa required to provide this information? or is the tpa required to protect the information unless instructed otherwise by (1) a court order or (2) the participant's certification authorizing its release?

any input is appreciated.

[QDROphile]

The Department of Labor informally says to provide the information, but the Department of Labor has not clearly thought about all of the issues. When it comes to QDROs the Department of Labor is imbalanced.

I believe that the plan needs either legal compulsion (which may be more expansive than a court order -- agencies may have authority to compel disclosure) or participant consent. If the plan is going to produce under complusion, the plan should notify the particpant in advance so the participant can attempt to quash the order, which will be futile.