QDROs are complex, and mistakes can be costly. As such, it is advised that an attorney draft the QDRO. Typically the spouse who is receiving the funds will be the spouse required to pay the legal fees necessary to obtain the QDRO, and it will be that spouse’s attorney who does the legwork in creating and filing the QDRO.
Because obtaining a QDRO will increase legal fees, the spouse entitled to receive funds from the other spouse’s retirement account will often accept another asset of comparable value in lieu of the retirement funds. For example, if a wife is entitled to $100,000 from her husband’s qualified 401(k), she might prefer to take a lump sum in that amount from a non-retirement account, or even receive an asset worth $100,000. That way she is still receiving the value she is owed, but not paying her attorney to draft the QDRO.
