HRA - Assets Split on Divorce

[luissaha]

Can assets from an HRA be transferred to a former spouse upon divorce?  My inclination is that they can't be, but is there a specific Internal Revenue Code provision I can cite for authority?  Any help is appreciated.

[Peter Gulia]

Is the "HRA" you ask about an ERISA-governed group health plan?

Does the plan's governing document state an anti-alienation provision?

 

 

[luissaha]

It is not ERISA-governed because the employer is a governmental agency.  It is a stand-alone, retiree-only HRA.  There is anti-alienation language in the document, but no citation to any IRC provision.  Is the anti-alientation language sufficient to rely upon?  A court has ordered the division.

[Peter Gulia]

You might want your lawyer's advice about whether the court that ordered the division has sufficient jurisdiction over the plan's administrator to compel the administrator to perform the act (if any) the court ordered the administrator to do.

States' laws vary widely about whether a proceeding that involves a State or local government must or need not be brought in a special-jurisdiction court, and what procedural conditions must be met in seeking relief against a government agency or official.