Legal Question in Family Law in Florida

Went to court for divorce 10/09 in Florida. At the beginning of the trial, both lawyers stipulated in front of the Judge that I and my ex-husband agreed to a (QDRO) Qualified Domestic Relations Order for each other's pension. Both attorneys verbally agreed that his attorney would prepare a QDRO for my pension for his benefit and my attorney would prepare a QDRO for his pension for my benefit. The Judge agreed and this was also written in the final judgment. I became upset with my attorney because I did not know what a QDRO was nor did we ever discuss it at any time. At a lunch break we were able to discuss it more. She told me that was the law and I did not have any say. About 5 months later I recieved a copy of a QDRO from my ex-husband's attorney. I contacted my attorney recently and asked her when she was going to do mine. She told me she doesn't do QDROs and besides I did not pay her for that service; therefore I would have to retain another attorney!!! I reminded her of the Final Judgment and what she said in court and to me. I told her she never mentioned on the trial date that she did not do QDROs or there was an additional costs. Do I have any recourse for my ex-attorneys lack of professionalism and ability to fulfill the Final Order Written by a Judge? I paid all monies requested of me up front to my attorney. She never mentioned extra money needed nor her inability to fulfill her promises to the Judge.


Asked on 5/13/10, 4:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Labovitz Labovitz Law Firm, P.A.

Hi. I really sympathize with you. This should have been clearly explained. Many attorneys consider the QDRO procedure outside the scope of the billing for the divorce proceedings. Look at it this way. Getting the splitting up of the retirement assets agreed to is like phase 1. Phase 2 is all the work involved post-judgment to get the QDRO form approved by the retirement plan and submitted as a final QDRO to the judge once approved. It really is a bunch of additional work post-divorce and most attorneys bill for it separately, but the process should have been more clearly explained to you.

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Answered on 5/19/10, 6:18 pm


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