Finish the paperwork your divorce decree left behind

Inventory your decree and assemble your documents

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Extract every decree obligation onto a master checklist
1 hour
This step produces the master checklist every later phase works from: a single table or spreadsheet that names every required change — name, beneficiary, title, account closure, transfer — with the deadline, the institution responsible, and the document each institution needs.
Why it matters: decrees are written in legal prose, not action items. You have to translate something like “Wife shall be entitled to 50% of the Husband’s 401(k) as of the valuation date” into a concrete QDRO task with a deadline, a plan administrator’s phone number, and a document to draft. A decree that runs four pages can generate fifteen separate obligations you will miss if you work from memory.
Open the decree to the property-settlement section — usually titled “Division of Assets,” “Property Settlement,” or “Marital Property.” Create a table or spreadsheet with these columns:
Obligation — write it as a verb + object: “Transfer 50% of Fidelity 401(k) to alternate payee,” “Change beneficiary on MetLife term policy,” “Record quitclaim deed for 123 Oak St.”

Deadline — copy the exact language from the decree: “within 60 days,” “upon receipt of the QDRO,” “no later than [date].”

Institution — the agency, plan administrator, bank, or carrier that will process the change: Fidelity, MetLife, County Recorder, SSA, DMV.

Document needed — what you must provide: a certified decree, a QDRO, a quitclaim deed, a change-of-beneficiary form.

Status — leave this blank; the remaining phases fill it in.
- Open the decree to the property-settlement section — usually titled “Division of Assets,” “Property Settlement,” or “Marital Property.”
- Create a table or spreadsheet with columns for obligation, deadline, institution, document needed, and status.
- Write each obligation as a verb plus object — “Transfer 50% of Fidelity 401(k) to alternate payee,” “Change beneficiary on MetLife term policy,” “Record quitclaim deed for 123 Oak St.”
- Copy each deadline verbatim from the decree — “within 60 days,” “upon receipt of the QDRO,” “no later than [date].”
- Name the institution that processes each change — Fidelity, MetLife, County Recorder, SSA, DMV — and the document it needs: certified decree, QDRO, quitclaim deed, or change-of-beneficiary form.
- Give every obligation a row — timeshares, cryptocurrency wallets, stock option grants, and frequent-flyer accounts included — and leave status blank.

0/4 done

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