$11.2 Million Traced and Counting: Why Non-Marital Retirement Money Matters More Than Ever
I just did the math. $11.2 million. That is how much non-marital retirement money we have traced this year alone. And most of those clients were told it was not “worth it.” Here is the truth. If you do not calculate it, your client loses it. It really is that simple. This is not a […]
Avoid 12-Month Delays on FERS Cases (Read This Before You Draft)
If your next case involves a federal employee, your client’s benefits (and your timeline) could be at risk. That’s because… Orders are getting rejected at a high rate. OPM’s processing times are often 8–12+ months, so a mistake today can stall a matter for most of a year. Federal orders* aren’t QDROs. They use a […]
The “Last-Minute Draft” Problem That’s Burning Law Firms, And the Simple Fix
Too many law firms are getting burned by the last-minute draft approach. We see it all the time: a firm sends over a retirement draft days before signing, hoping for a quick review and instead gets the bad news. You’re equalizing from the wrong account. The tracing calculation is missing. The plan won’t accept “marital […]
The Hidden Risk in Retirement Settlements: Why Gains and Losses Can Break Your Agreement
A settlement agreement awarded a recipient spouse $175,000 from a defined contribution plan. The document was silent on gains and losses post-Date of Separation. By the time of division, their proper share had grown to $223,000. The recipient spouse lost nearly $50,000, because market growth wasn’t included in the agreement. This is not a hypothetical. […]
Free QDROs Are Coming, But Only for Firms Who Do This First
Most attorneys believe QDROs are the hardest part of dividing retirement assets in divorce. They’re not. The real challenge is in the language of the settlement itself. Why Attorneys Struggle Most lawyers were never taught how to properly divide a 401(k) or IRA. These accounts behave more like brokerage accounts than pensions, which creates […]