QDRO, INC.
Pension and Retirement Plan Division in Divorce
Attorney Handled Draft Only or Entire Process
QDRO's and QILDRO's
An Experienced Retirement Plan Division Attorney
As a QDRO and QILDRO experienced attorney, I can help you at all stages of the process, preparing language to be included in your Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage, drafting the appropriate Order, obtaining pre-approval, negotiating with the Plan Administrator and/or opposing attorney or party to include provision for your protection, arguing before the Court for inclusion of those provisions, securing final approval by the Plan Administrator and appealing QDRO related.
Please contact me for a free intake.
If you or your spouse/partner had or have interest in a retirement plan, such as a defined benefit plan (also known as pension plan) or a defined contribution plan (a 401(k) type plan) and you will be dividing that interest, you will need a special court order known as a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) (sometimes referred to as QUADRO) or, if it is an Illinois State or municipality plan (such as SURS, or TRS or Chicago Public Schools pension), a Qualified Illinois Domestic Relations Order (QILDRO) (sometimes referred to as QUILDRO).
These Orders must be drafted carefully and contain the appropriate protections, including pre-retirement survivor annuity (in case of Participant’s death before retirement), cost-of-living adjustment provisions and other protections. Alternatively, if the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage or Civil Union does not grant certain interests in the Plan, the Orders should not provide anything that would inappropriately reduce the Participant’s portion.
Since the wording of the Judgment controls the provisions of the QDRO or QILDRO, it is important that the proper provisions and formulas are used. For example, the difference between “50% as of divorce” versus using the coverture formula (50% of the product of multiplying the benefit at retirement by a formula, the numerator of which is time participating in the plan during the marriage and the denominator of which is the total time participating in the plan) could mean hundreds of dollars difference per month. I have the expertise to draft or review a draft of any QDRO or QILDRO, and can review your Judgment before entry to make sure it contains the appropriate language to protect your interests.
Probably the most important thing to keep in mind is to get the QDRO or QILDRO entered as soon as possible. If there is no Order that has been entered and approved by the Plan Administrator at the time of Participant’s death, the Alternate Payee is likely to get nothing. He or she may then only have the option to go after the former spouse’s estate. What if there is no money in the estate? What if the beneficiary of the plan was listed as another person and the money went straight from the plan to the new beneficiary? These are questions you never want to have to answer.
I have a successfully processed QDRO’s and QILDRO’s throughout Illinois, in particular in Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County Lake County and Will County. I can assist you at a reasonable rate. Depending on the case, I charge flat or hourly fees. Please complete and submit my QDRO questionnaire here to begin the process.
Our Services
We offer QDRO related services, in particular to attorneys with the benefit of outsourcing while maintaining continuity of attorney representation and saving you time.
You choose which or all stages of the process handled by an experienced attorney: preparing language to be included in your Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage and Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA), drafting the appropriate QDRO, obtaining pre-approval, negotiating with the Plan Administrator and/or opposing attorney or party to include provisions for your protection, appearing in Court and securing final approval by the Plan Administrator, with quick responses to your questions along the way.
About Us
QDRO, INC. is owned by a highly experienced attorney that started a flat-fee based approach to dividing pension & retirement plans by QDRO in and around Chicago. We prepare QDRO’s nationwide and offer in-court representation in Illinois.
Unlike most QDRO preparation services, QDRO, INC., extends your professionalism to your client. Let us remove this one component of your case, maintaining attorney-client confidentiality and professional responsibility throughout.
QDRO and QILDRO
If you or your spouse/partner had or have interest in a retirement plan, such as a defined benefit plan (also known as pension plan) or a defined contribution plan (a 401(k) type plan) and you will be dividing that interest,
you will need a special court order known as a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (“QDRO”) (sometimes referred to as QUADRO) or, if it is an Illinois State or municipality plan (such as SURS, or TRS or Chicago Public Schools pension), a Qualified Illinois Domestic Relations Order (“QILDRO”) (sometimes referred to as QUILDRO).
These Orders must be drafted carefully and contain the appropriate protections, including pre-retirement survivor annuity (in case of Participant’s death before retirement), cost-of-living adjustment provisions and other protections.
Alternatively, if the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage or Civil Union does not grant certain interests in the Plan, the Orders should not provide anything that would inappropriately reduce the Participant’s portion.
Since the wording of the Judgment controls the wording of the QDRO or QILDRO, it is important that the proper provision and formulas are used. For example, the difference between “50% as of divorce” versus using the coverture formula (50% of the product of multiplying the benefit at retirement by a formula, the numerator of which is time participating in the plan during the marriage and the denominator of which is the total time participating in the plan) could mean hundreds or more dollars difference per month.
We have the expertise to draft or review a draft of any QDRO or QILDRO, and can review your Judgment before entry to make sure it contains the appropriate language to protect your interests.
Probably the most important thing to keep in mind is to get the QDRO or QILDRO entered as soon as possible. If there is no Order that has been entered and approved by the Plan Administrator at the time of Participant’s death, the Alternate Payee is likely to get nothing. He or she may have to file suit against the former spouse’s estate.
What if there is no money in the estate? What if the beneficiary of the plan was listed as another person and the money went straight from the plan to the new beneficiary? These are questions you never want to have to answer.
We have successfully processed QDRO’s and QILDRO’s throughout Illinois, in particular in Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County Lake County and Will County. Our attorney can assist you at a reasonable rate.
Depending on the case, we charge flat or hourly fees. Please complete and submit our QDRO questionnaire here to begin the process. We will then provide you with a free intake to determine if we can be of assistance.
