Plan Administrative Fees to Process a QDRO

Summary:  Although our fees remain in the $295 to $330 range, a recent change in federal law now allows a retirement plan administrator to charge a reasonable fee to review a QDRO to see if it is a valid court order for plan division purposes. Fees of $300 to $1,200 are now charged by some plans. I am also beginning to see hourly charges of $200 or so.

What is the Cost for a Retirement Plan Administrator to Process a QDRO?

A recent change to federal law now allows a retirement plan administrator to charge a reasonable free to review and determine whether a QDRO can be processed as a valid court order.

Although almost all retirement plans still do not charge anything, some are now charging $300 to $1,300 per QDRO to review them. If the QDRO has to be revised, additional charges can apply.

So, a QDRO should probably include an allocation (such as 50-50) of the cost of any such review fee.

And the initial draft should be done carefully to avoid any additional fees for the need to review a revision.

Our fees are still in the $295 to $330 range for most plans, even though some of the plan "review" fees charged by the plan administrators greatly exceed our fees for doing the work.