12/05/2022
Family law practitioners, a good QDRO attorney assists with the entire process- not just the QDRO.
There are so many components to the QDRO process: plan identification, benefit identification, division options, separation agreement terms, submission, segregation, etc. Family law attorneys aren’t familiar with this process, they practice family law, they have enough on their plates. It is the QDRO attorney’s responsibility to guide the family law attorney(s) through the entire process from identification to segregation.
The separation agreement and/or final hearing is your opportunity to get a court order on all issues. As such, this is your opportunity to address all available benefits of existing qualified retirement accounts. Should your final order omit a benefit then you could have a big problem.
Even if you have a separation agreement and a finalized draft QDRO you still have a lot of work ahead. Have you ever tried calling Fidelity/Wells Fargo/Empower and waited on hold forever only to find that you need to be transferred? The pre-approval and segregation process is half the battle. Without the procedural information you could be facing another couple hours of work. On top of all that, the aftermath of a QDRO is usually the most frustrating for a client only because they assumed the hearing was the last step.
Remember, if a non-attorney or even licensed attorney drafts the QDRO simply for you to file into your case, the liability is on you. But if a licensed QDRO attorney manages the whole process, the liability is on them. Which one do you prefer?
