457 Withdrawal

Had a spouse in 2005 who had a 457 Plan that was divided during our Divorce. I have my suspicions that my ex-spouse withdrew some of the funds from that account ... and I just would like to know what are some kinds of circumstances/reasons that allows someone to withdrew from a 457 Plan account?

Pardon me for not answering your question (because I do not think it can be answered generically, among other reasons) and instead offering unsolicited advice. It sounds like what you need to do is explore and understand what your interest in the benefit is and how to secure it as best as possible beyond the mere award under the terms of your divorce document that you mention. That will first involve understanding what sort of 457 plan the former spouse has. In the course of understanding the plan and what you can do to secure your interest, you should encounter information about your right from the plan’s perspective to check on the benefit and your interest in the benefit. That effort should also answer your question about permissible, distribution timing and options, which, to me, is the least important feature of the plan for you at this point. You will probably need someone with expertise to guide you through all this. You will not have the convenience of procedures and disclosures that apply to division of qualified plan benefits (so called “QDRO” stuff). BTW, mention of “reckless behavior” and its details are irrelevant and not endearing.

Totally agree with QDROphile, but generally to withdraw funds from a 457(b) you must either terminate employment or have an unforeseen financial emergency that meets certain requirements, if the plan permits unforeseen financial emergency withdrawals.