A new report from the Government Accountability Office looks at the barriers that participants and their former spouse face when seeking to obtain a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO).

In a report, the GAO examined what is known about the number of QDRO recipients, the fees involved, and other expenses for processing them, the reasons plans do not initially qualify DROs and the challenges experts identify regarding the QDRO process.

According to the GAO’s report, there no data on the number of QDROs, but plans and recordkeepers the agency interviewed and surveyed reported that few seek and obtain QDROs.

The GAO recommend\ed that the Department of Labor (DOL) take steps to ensure that information regarding the requirements for QDROs is available and easily accessible to participants

The DOL generally agreed that it should take steps to ensure that information regarding the requirements for QDROs is available and easily accessible.

As an ERISA attorney for 22 years, I find that the problem with QDROs rests on divorce attorneys who have basic or little. knowledge of QDROS. Most people going through a divorce rely on counsel and the problems I’ve seen rests on divorce attorneys who know little on how to properly draft a QDRO.