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@Attie wrote:

They had a QDRO that stated that the husband had to give her 1/2 of his IRA.

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I don't think a QDRO applies to IRAs; I thought it only applies to employer plans.

While an IRA can be split for divorce, I don't think withdrawing from it is exempt from the early withdrawal penalty.

The taxpayer can check if there was any Basis in that IRA.  I'm not entirely sure if the Basis would be split based on the IRA split, but my first guess is that it would.