Estranged Couples to Fight Over Virus-Stung Retirement Funds

The coronavirus pandemic could give estranged couples something else to fight over: shrinking retirement accounts stuck in a bureaucratic limbo between courts and plan administrators.

Retirement account-splitting agreements known as qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs) stalled by the Covid-19 outbreak must be amended post-quarantine, attorneys say, to make up for the losses benefits-seeking spouses are suffering right now.

QDROs typically take months to make their way from state courthouses to the plan administrators who then divide the corresponding retirement savings between participants and the alternate payee, usually a former spouse. In some cases, spouses that are separated but not legally ...