How Much Does a QDRO Cost?

Plans with system-specific procedures

• State and local government pensions. NYSLRS, NYCERS, NYC Police/Fire/BERS/TRS QPP, Colorado PERA, FPPA, New Jersey PERS/PFRS/TPAF/JRS/SPRS, Connecticut SERS/MERS/TRB, Florida FRS, CalPERS, CalSTRS, TRS Texas, and similar systems.
• Non-governmental 457(b). Top-hat plans for executives at private employers. Each plan has its own document.
• Non-qualified deferred compensation (NQDC). Section 409A plans. Plan-specific.
• Federal civilian (COAP). CSRS and FERS annuities at OPM.
• Uniformed service (Military Retired Pay Division Order). Military retired pay at DFAS.

Work that goes beyond drafting the order

• Forensic Tracing. Marital and non-marital separation. Quoted after a short scope review. The quote depends on accounts, dates, statement availability, rollover history, and similar scope factors. See the forensic tracing guide.
• Records Discovery. Pre-forensic records sourcing when statements predate the current record keeper. $1,500 flat as a standalone service. Tracing is optional and quoted separately. Recovery is not guaranteed. See the forensic tracing guide.
• Cross-Border Retirement Division Consulting. Foreign decrees, US plan-administrator requirements, treaty and withholding issues. See the cross-border guide.
• Rejected-QDRO amendments. Diagnostic and re-drafting. See the QDRO rejection diagnosis guide.
• Pre-settlement language review. Complimentary when TOVA prepares the related court order.

For quote-only cases, the price reflects the work, not the plan name. A few drivers:

• Multiple plans under one settlement. A federal employee with FERS, TSP, and a 401(k) from a prior private employer needs a COAP, an RBCO, and a QDRO. Three orders.
• Tracing scope. Premarital carve-outs, rollovers across record keepers, loans during marriage, post-separation contributions to back out. Each adds analysis.
• Records gaps. If statements before a certain date are not available from the current record keeper, Records Discovery comes in first. See the Seven-Year Wall section of the forensic tracing guide.
• TIAA accounts. A TIAA account is usually several plans under one umbrella, and some of what shows on the statement may not be a divisible retirement plan at all. We review each plan on the statement and confirm scope before quoting. Where TIAA's rules allow it, plans being divided before payout can be combined into one order. See the TIAA 403(b) guide.
• Cross-border integration. Foreign decree, U.S. plan, additional U.S. court step required.
• Participant already in pay status. Shared-payment drafting, election review. See the post-retirement guide.

• Account size. A $50,000 401(k) and a $5,000,000 401(k) are both $700.
• Whether the alternate payee is the wife or the husband. No premium either way.
• Geography within the United States. TOVA serves attorneys in all 50 states at the same fee schedule.

1. Email sedelman@tovaretirement.com with the plan name (or the employer if the plan name is unclear), a short scope description, and any relevant documents (settlement language, statements, the rejected order if there is one).
2. We respond with a flat project-fee quote covering the work described, with a brief note on what is and is not included.
3. If the scope changes after we start, we send a revised quote before doing the additional work. Nothing gets added silently.

For full pricing detail, see the pricing page. For the matchup between plan type and order name (QDRO vs COAP vs RBCO vs DRO vs Military Retired Pay Division Order vs IRA Transfer Incident), see the order type guide. For the related FAQ section, see QDRO Services and Process.

• We do not make strategic litigation decisions. We document what the records show and what the plan can administer.
• We do not negotiate fees against counsel's QDRO budget. The published price is the price.

How much does a QDRO cost in California?

The same $700 flat for a standard private plan. QDRO drafting does not cost more because the divorce is in California. A private 401(k), private 403(b), or IRA for a California case is $700, the same as any other state. California's large public systems, CalPERS and CalSTRS, run their own court-order procedures, so those are quote-only.

What is the QDRO fee for a 401(k)?

$700 flat. A private 401(k) is the standard case. TOVA drafts the order, pre-submits it to the plan's QDRO unit where the plan allows pre-approval, includes any plan-requested revisions, and delivers the order with the pre-approval letter or email, or the finished order if the plan offers no pre-approval, all for the one $700 project fee, regardless of the account balance.