Q: My husband and I divorced about 4yrs ago and in the divorce decree I was awarded 50% of his pension and 60% of his 401k
My husband and I divorced about 4yrs ago and in the divorce decree I was awarded 50% of his pension and 60% of his 401k employee savings. His attorney was to submit the QDRO info, I received a payment payout on the pension plan. But I recently realized that I never received anything on his 401k savings plan. I emailed his attorney Dec 12 2019 in regards to the second QDRO and she said she must have overlooked the fact that she never filed for it. She said she would work on it but it seems like she is dragging her feet for some reason, there is always an excuse why she cannot follow up.
My question is what can and should I do?
Do I file for contempt?Can I sue her or the company?
Will I get interest? Because it’s been sitting there unavailable to me?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Can I sue the attorney because of her not filing for the other QDRO (doing her job!) has caused me “Hardships” in my life?
Will there be added interest on the money I was supposed to receive?
A:
My first question is: Was his attorney supposed to actually draft the QDRO and file it with the court? The reason I ask is that usually, most of us family attorneys, farm out QDRO's to an attorney who specializes in QDROs. There are a handful of attorneys who handle them. For purposes of this answer, I will assume that your ex's attorney was supposed to do the QDRO based upon your question.
You should file a motion with the court immediately. You can file a motion for contempt, although I am not so sure a court will find him in contempt for the failure to act on the part of the lawyer. Nevertheless, you will get the relief you are seeking. You should also request copies of the yearly statements from the date of divorce until today to see if the dollar amount you are entitled to increased or decreased. Usually we put language in the divorce decree that states that the transfer will take into consideration any gains or losses from the date of divorce until the date of transfer. I am not sure if your decree has this language. Just make sure that whatever the amount you are going to get is reasonable in light of the delay. You should stay on this and make sure the attorney informs you of that amount before the QDRO is finalized so you can go back to court if you believe you are being short changed.
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