LOCAL, PERSONAL & KNOWLEDGEABLE

The best advice I can offer: if you want to save time, your client’s money, and prevent post-decree headaches for everyone, bring me into the case as early as possible.

The difference between a negotiated result and an unintended consequence is measured by your client’s time and money. When benefits and options are overlooked in settlement or at trial, whichever the side of the windfall, nobody wins. Post-decree litigation aimed at resolving one party’s surprise is as avoidable as it is expensive and time-consuming… for both sides. As testament, take just a moment to review the hundreds of appellate cases I’ve blogged about from Ohio and Kentucky alone. The lesson? Get it right the first time.

My entire practice is devoted to working with family law attorneys to resolve issues related to complex financial assets, retirement, and other forms of deferred compensation. Beyond drafting QDROs, I also provide consultation and direct support on a variety of asset divisions and QDRO-related matters as part of settlement negotiations, mediation, Collaborative Divorce, and litigation. I am licensed in Ohio and Kentucky, and have been qualified as an expert witness by family courts in both states.

Keeping up with evolving federal regulatory law is critical. To assist other legal, financial, and tax professionals in doing the same, I’ve authored a topical treatise, which is part of the nationally acclaimed Bloomberg Tax & Accounting Tax Management Portfolios, 379-1st T.M., QDROs and Similar Assignments of Income/Retirement Assets.

I also stay current on the ever-changing world of state domestic relations law by developing and regularly presenting educational seminars at the request of local and state bar associations, judges, and other professional associations. I also maintain the EZ QDRO LAW Blog, which is designed to serve as a reference for Ohio and Kentucky domestic relations attorneys. My posts cover current QDRO-related legislative events, QDRO best practices, and case law developments related to marital property rights in both jurisdictions.

A QDRO is not a neutral document.

It should come as no surprise, retirement assets are often the largest marital asset to be divided. As such, a QDRO is a powerful tool. A properly drafted QDRO involves strategy, demanding individualized attention in every case. Such personal review is critical to secure essential rights for your client and avoid unintended consequences. Focused concentration on each plan’s underlying terms and procedures also improves chances of timely plan acceptance of initial QDRO submissions, saving time and money.

Many QDRO preparation companies use non-attorneys and standard boilerplate QDRO forms or generic document assembly services. Some plan administrators also provide sample QDRO forms to ensure efficient processing on their end to keep their costs down. I do not rely on QDRO forms. Reliance on forms can result in forsaking benefits to which your client is entitled and overlooking alternate distribution schemes and enhanced protections.  

I am committed to assisting you with:

• achieving an equitable division of financial assets, and

• preventing potential pitfalls and delays related to complex plan documents and changing laws.

Whether during the early stages of negotiation, in litigation, or when drafting the QDRO, my individual attention to your case includes:

• reviewing valuations of assets and retirement plan documents,

• evaluating state domestic relations and federal regulatory law, and

• assessing impact of case-specific facts.

As part of your team, when evaluating financial assets in your case, I carefully consider and provide recommendations on such matters as:

• tracing separate/marital retirement and other ‘mixed’ assets (application of Kentucky’s Brandenburg Formula for residential property)

• vesting

• retroactive valuation dates

• participant loans

• delayed contributions and forfeitures

• cost-of-living adjustments

• early retirement benefits

• timing and form of benefits

• survivorship

• basis and tax allocation

“Understanding the plan terms in advance of the QDRO helped me secure my client's interests early in negotiations, preventing post-decree surprises, lost time, and money.” —EZ QDRO LAW Attorney Review

Why Partner with EZ QDRO LAW?

Retirement benefits are often the largest marital asset. Representing your clients’ best interests and providing them competent advice commands a full understanding of domestic relations law impacting such benefits, federal regulatory law, plan mechanics, individual plan terms, and careful review of each plan’s unique QDRO procedures.

With each financial asset being divided, have you covered all your bases from the beginning and considered all issues that may arise in the future? Partnering with me early in the case helps ensure your answers are always “yes” and “yes.”

If not, finding this out after the settlement agreement has been signed means a lost opportunity to negotiate at best, and at worst, a lost lifetime pension for your client. Keep in mind, some pension plans may not have survivorship benefits available for former spouses, or may only have limited survivorship benefits, in which case you may need to negotiate differently for your client from the beginning.

Are you sure the pension plan’s rules for determining and calculating the “marital portion” of accrued benefits comports with state domestic relations law and the parties’ intent? Or did you just file away the plan’s “QDRO acceptance letter” thinking that was the end of it? Beware: duration, timing and form of benefits varies greatly between plans, as does the handling of early retirement benefits and cost-of-living adjustments. Risk of an inequitable and unfair division of the pension lurks at every corner of your QDRO if you did not learn of the plan terms in advance of negotiations.

And if so, when will they be allocated and how much will be allocated? For instance, did you check to see if the plan will allocate a delayed profit sharing contribution in the year following the year of the year of the divorce? These contributions can add up, a single annual profit share could easily be as much as $57,000 in 2020. So if your client is the former spouse, and the divorce is on December 31, he or she could miss out on his or her entire half of a $57,000 contribution, all earned during the term of marriage, unless you knew about and considered such contributions in your negotiations and QDRO.

Are you sure the 401k plan will retroactively value the account or determine market value fluctuations on an award from a date in the past? If not, and the parties’ agreed to gains and losses, someone is walking away with an unintended windfall. Knowing the plan valuation rules prior to preparation of the QDRO can alleviate this post-decree headache and ill-surprise.

If not, watch out. Default rules may completely nullify certain benefits for your client if not properly addressed in the settlement agreement or domestic relations order. This may result in having to go back and renegotiate and redraft. Moreover, there are local government plans that won't allow for division of retirement plan accounts in divorce at all, causing you to have to go back and renegotiate the entire property settlement post-decree if you were caught by surprise.

Thrift Savings Plans (the government version of a 401k) also have default rules, such as only allowing vested benefits to be divided, calculating gains and losses based on the asset allocation on the valuation date, and automatically including loans in the amount to be divided. This can have a significant impact on the amount actually awarded, versus what your client negotiated and expected. Knowing the plan rules in advance can ensure your client is receiving, or retaining, the full amount of benefit to which he or she is entitled.