Legal Question in Family Law in Missouri

quadro form

My divorce was final at the end of Dec 2001. My lawyer who handled the case was supposed to file a quadro with my ex-husband's previous employee because in the divorce I was awarded half the pension. He said he did this but could never give me the info. He made excuse after excuse. Then he stopper returning my phone calls in early March of 2002 when I called myself to the company adn they said that no quadro form had ever been submitted. I desperately need to get this money. The divorce was a bad one, took 2 and 1/2 years and other than this I pretty much walked away with the clothes on my back. I have been told that I must have a lawyer file this form and one will only do it for $500. Now I am a pretty educated person and if there is a form to file or something to be used as a guide I am quiete capable of doing this and filing the form myself. I have a BA in Criminal Justice so I know a little about the law. My questions is whether I myself can file this Quadro, how I go about it and where do I get the form?

Thank you for your time.


Asked on 9/11/02, 2:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael R. Nack Michael R. Nack, Attorney at Law

Re: quadro form

In my opinion you should have an attorney take care of the QDRO. There are often complications which an attorney would be better able to handle, and you would have the advantage of being able to recover from the attorney's malpractice carrier if the attorney makes an error which causes you damage. Five hundred dollars does not sound like an unreasonable fee to me, and I have done plenty of QDRO'S in the twenty-four years I have been practicing law. However, if you insist upon doing this yourself, you might contact the plan administrator for the pension plan and ask if they could provide you with a form. When the attorney prepares the QDRO, the attorney first obtains the approval of the plan administrator to the document drafted by the attorney before obtaining the Judge's signature. This is to be sure that the plan administrator will be able to carry out the terms of the court order (the QDRO) at the appropriate time. If you would like to call me for a free telphone consultation you may call me at 314-727-2822. If not, good luck!

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Answered on 9/12/02, 11:54 pm


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