QDROs Never Looked So Good! (But Felt So Bad)

Eddie Cibrian and Ex Fail to Enter QDRO with Court More Than Three Years after Dissolution

I must give street cred to my friend Erin Loudner Emerson, Director of Marketing at the Cincinnati Bar Association, for having her finger on the pulse of this breaking QDRO celebrity news story.  Yes, I just said that... “QDRO celebrity news story.”  Actually, Erin said it best, “That’s the only time QDROs will appear in US Weekly.”  The headliner was also picked up by E! Online.

US Weekly - Eddie Cibrian responds to ex-wife Brandi Glanvilles child support claims for the second time

E! Online - Eddie Cibrian again slams Brandi Glanville's claim that he wants child support after she tweets then deletes lawyer's letter

A January 31, 2014 letter from a lawyer jointly retained by both Cibrian and his Ex, Brandi Glanville, reveals that the parties’ Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage entered in November of 2010 ordered the division of Mr. Cibrian’s retirement account via QDRO.  However, over three years later, the QDRO, which was drafted but not signed by the parties or entered by the Court, remains an unresolved issue of the divorce with the amount of the alternate payee’s award in apparent dispute. 

Unfortunately, this celebrity gossip story is all-too-real, and it isn’t just celebrities that have post-decree QDRO-related disputes that result in protracted and expensive litigation.  How can these disputes be avoided?  Timing is everything. 

There is an overwhelming amount of case law detailing the catastrophic consequences, both to the client and attorney, of an untimely QDRO.  Celebrity or not, do not wait to draft the QDRO.  Draft the QDRO concurrently with settlement negotiations or a hearing on the matter.  And whenever possible, do not wait and file the QDRO post-decree.  Incorporating the QDRO by reference into the final decree ensures timeliness.   Delay in having the QDRO entered by the court and qualified by the retirement plan can cause headaches for both parties, and their attorneys.  Moreover, the rights of the alternate payee may be forever lost if the participant does any of the following before a QDRO is submitted and accepted by the retirement plan:

• retires, quits, or is fired
• remarries 
• dies
• withdraws funds from the plan before retirement
• takes out a loan secured by the plan account

Further, as seen with these headlines, the longer the parties wait, the more likely that protracted and unnecessarily expensive litigation may result from the QDRO drafting process and attempted enforcement of the QDRO terms.  The final paragraph of the lawyer’s letter to Cibrian and Glanville poignantly encapsulates an important final lesson:  Post-decree disputes can be expensive.

Note that the original retainer fee has long been exhausted.  At this point forward, I am billing you at my hourly rate of $375 for all time spent bringing this to conclusion.

Blog Posts are intended to bring attention to developments in the law and are not intended as legal advice for any particular client or any particular situation. Please consult with counsel of your choice regarding any specific questions you may have.