After a divorce, it can be only too common for one party to flout the terms of the divorce decree, whether it is a deadbeat parent who fails to pay child support or an ex who has only made a couple of incomplete alimony payments. Before you or your family find themselves without the support you need and deserve, you may need to find a way to enforce those court orders, just in case. One option you might have at your fingertips is the Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO).

The QDRO is an order that must be issued by a court, and it involves retirement funds. So if a parent gets a QDRO for an ex's retirement plan, this order could direct some of those funds toward the recipient parent to make up for missed child support. A former spouse can get the funds they deserve from a pension, 401K, 403B, etc., pretty much as long as the retirement plan is not an IRA. So how exactly does this work? In a divorce settlement, the QDRO can direct funds to you as part of property division, and the QDRO could also be a "lien", meaning that if the party whose name is on the retirement plan fails to pay support, the recipient can collect funds directly from that plan. In fact, during the divorce process, someone can get temporary support through a QDRO, using some of their soon-to-be ex's funds for their own legal fees. The bottom line: it is far easier to get a QDRO as part of the divorce than to get one after the divorce has been finalized.

If you think a QDRO should be a part of your divorce, then you need to find a skilled divorce attorney who understands this process, and also what it would mean for the future, such as how this would affect your taxes. Start discussing your case with a divorce lawyer today!