The divorce is final. The issues of child support, alimony and property division have been finalized, and you were awarded 50% of your former spouse's retirement account. You commission an attorney to draft the Qualified Domestic Relations Order necessary to divide the retirement account according to the terms of the Settlement Agreement. But, now that the QDRO has been drafted and is ready to be submitted to the court and plan administrator for approval, your spouse indicates that he or she no longer agrees with the terms of your agreement and will not sign the QDRO. What now? Is it possible for your to file for contempt to compel your spouse to sign the QDRO?
File a Contempt to get my Ex to Sign the QDRO?
Generally, QDROs are orders that the court issues based on the consent of both parties. This is why it may be necessary for both you and your spouse to sign. If you and your spouse agreed to a certain division of his or her retirement plan, and that agreement was memorialized in a Settlement Agreement that was adopted by the presiding court in the Final Decree of Divorce, it would be a violation of the court's order for your spouse to simply refuse to sign the QDRO. Whenever a court order is violated, the aggrieved party has a right to file a Motion for Contempt. If upon speaking with your former spouse or his or her attorney, your former spouse continues to refuse to sign the QDRO, you should file a Motion for Contempt against your former spouse and ask the court to order him or her to sign the QDRO and cooperation in facilitating the division of the retirement account.