Cost of splitting assests (401k and house) in a divorce

[Anonymous]

I am trying to get an idea on how expensive it is to split up assets in a divorce. I am looking for some real examples of the costs and extra taxes associated with splitting up a 401k and transfering a house from husband and wife to one owner. This is just to get an idea of the cost. A divorce is not in the works and I have not talked to a lawyer yet. It seams like these costs may be more than the cost of the lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get an idea on how expensive it is to split up assets in a divorce. I am looking for some real examples of the costs and extra taxes associated with splitting up a 401k and transfering a house from husband and wife to one owner. This is just to get an idea of the cost. A divorce is not in the works and I have not talked to a lawyer yet. It seams like these costs may be more than the cost of the lawyers.

It doesn't "cost" anything to split a 401k. You get a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) from the court, present it to the 401k administrator, and they divide the account(s) into his and hers 401k's or IRA's according to the instructions in the QDRO. There would be no taxes due, unless one party or the other chose to liquidate the account. It's really quite simple. However, the court is going to issue that in conjunction with the divorce decree; that's the hard part.

Real estate is similar. If there is a division, often one party will refinance the property in their own name in order to buy out the equity owed to the other party. Costs are the same (as little as nothing at all) as one would encounter for a typical refinance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get an idea on how expensive it is to split up assets in a divorce. I am looking for some real examples of the costs and extra taxes associated with splitting up a 401k and transfering a house from husband and wife to one owner. This is just to get an idea of the cost. A divorce is not in the works and I have not talked to a lawyer yet. It seams like these costs may be more than the cost of the lawyers.

It doesn't "cost" anything to split a 401k. You get a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) from the court, present it to the 401k administrator, and they divide the account(s) into his and hers 401k's or IRA's according to the instructions in the QDRO. There would be no taxes due, unless one party or the other chose to liquidate the account. It's really quite simple. However, the court is going to issue that in conjunction with the divorce decree; that's the hard part.

Real estate is similar. If there is a division, often one party will refinance the property in their own name in order to buy out the equity owed to the other party. Costs are the same (as little as nothing at all) as one would encounter for a typical refinance.

Mine was more complicated. I paid a finance advisor to do it and it cost $700.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get an idea on how expensive it is to split up assets in a divorce. I am looking for some real examples of the costs and extra taxes associated with splitting up a 401k and transfering a house from husband and wife to one owner. This is just to get an idea of the cost. A divorce is not in the works and I have not talked to a lawyer yet. It seams like these costs may be more than the cost of the lawyers.

It doesn't "cost" anything to split a 401k. You get a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) from the court, present it to the 401k administrator, and they divide the account(s) into his and hers 401k's or IRA's according to the instructions in the QDRO. There would be no taxes due, unless one party or the other chose to liquidate the account. It's really quite simple. However, the court is going to issue that in conjunction with the divorce decree; that's the hard part.

Real estate is similar. If there is a division, often one party will refinance the property in their own name in order to buy out the equity owed to the other party. Costs are the same (as little as nothing at all) as one would encounter for a typical refinance.

Mine was more complicated. I paid a finance advisor to do it and it cost $700.

If you got a QDRO from the court, you literally just send it to the 401k administrator and they do the rest. I can't imagine what your advisor did to earn that $700.

[Anonymous]

OP here, so with the form you don't need to sell the mutual funds from the account you are splitting up and then repurchase them for the new account? That's where I thought most of the fees would be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, so with the form you don't need to sell the mutual funds from the account you are splitting up and then repurchase them for the new account? That's where I thought most of the fees would be.

Some of the logistics are going to depend on the plan, but generally the 401k would send payments under a QDRO to a rollover IRA in the name of the spouse. Fees should be minimal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Real estate is similar. If there is a division, often one party will refinance the property in their own name in order to buy out the equity owed to the other party. Costs are the same (as little as nothing at all) as one would encounter for a typical refinance.

Refi is going to cost at least $2,000 with all the taxes and fees and whatnot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, so with the form you don't need to sell the mutual funds from the account you are splitting up and then repurchase them for the new account? That's where I thought most of the fees would be.

Some of the logistics are going to depend on the plan, but generally the 401k would send payments under a QDRO to a rollover IRA in the name of the spouse. Fees should be minimal.

This. You set up an IRA where you want (Fidelity, etc), and when the Court issues the QDRO, it goes straight to the new IRA. The fees depend on the investment vehicles/fund manager that you choose.