When it comes to dividing retirement assets during a divorce, the Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) process can be both intricate and time-consuming. From the moment a pote…
Ask a hundred people on the streets what a qualified domestic relations order (or QDRO) is and probably all one hundred will stare at you blankly or ask you if you are insane. Ask …
If you are considering a divorce or are in the process of one, you may have heard of the term QDRO or Qualified Domestic Relations Order. This is an important document that outline…
When a couple divorces, it can be a complicated and emotionally charged process. One important part of the divorce process is the Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). This do…
Getting divorced in California can be a complex process, with both state and federal laws governing the division of marital property, including retirement accounts. One potential i…
A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) can be a powerful tool to help manage the division of marital assets and debts in divorce proceedings. Although QDROs are most commonly …
Making decisions about retirement plans can be complicated and there are a number of consultants and professionals that claim to be able to prepare retirement division orders, ofte…
When times get tough, as they often do during divorce, many people turn to their retirement accounts for a bridge loan to get them past temporary financial troubles. The problem, o…
On average, I probably receive a phone call at least once per week from a distressed divorcee who has relied upon bad advice about the QDRO process. Some will tell me that their at…
When you are going through a divorce, one of the major considerations is how to divide assets. This is often an incredibly complex and difficult process, which can be made even mor…
When is a QDRO required? The answer is, almost always. In nearly every divorce, at least one of the parties has a retirement account. This retirement account is likely marital prop…
In a divorce or legal separation, a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is a legal document that says how retirement benefits will be split. Not only does it say who will get…
A Qualified Domestic Relations Order, commonly referred to as a QDRO, is a court-order that directs a retirement plan to divide retirement accounts, typically along the terms of th…
After waiting for your divorce judgment to be finalized, nobody wants to wait for the QDRO to be done, especially when it seems like it could be as simple as withdrawing money from…
QDROs are slow. The fastest QDRO I have personally done was a little more than a month between the time they retained me and the time I handed off to the retirement plan. That one …
Qualified pre-retirement survivor annuity? Post-retirement survivor benefits? Shared or separate interests? What about the new spouse? We tackle common pension QDRO survivor benefi…
I serve in a niche that maybe shouldn’t exist. I am a QDRO attorney, a guy who drafts orders dividing retirement accounts as part of (or more commonly, after) a divorce. I exist be…
Update: 9/13/22: The old software tool that I used to build the initial machine is going offline soon – though an exact date hasn’t been announced. I’ve since set up an open source…
QDROs are a lot like two legged dog with an incontinence problem: it takes a very special person to love them. They are complex. They are the most niche of legal documents, and ill…
Thirteen months ago, we bought our first house. It was a bit of a surprise that we were able to, given that my wife is a medical resident making the equivalent of minimum wage and …
Five years ago, I did not need a will. I had a beautiful dog, Moustakas, and a mountain of law school debt. If I died, I knew that a couple of relatives would fight over the dog bu…
I have a confession to make: I do not have an estate plan. That sounds shocking coming from an estate planning attorney, but it is true. Until a couple of years ago, I had no one t…
We have a lot to worry about these days — an unprecedented pandemic is sweeping our world, putting the lives of ourselves and our families in jeopardy. Beyond that, the worldwide s…
By far, the most frequent question I get on Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) is about the timetable: “How long does a QDRO take?” And while most lawyers will just say, “…