Distilled from years of Fortune 500 consulting practice, Shulman's administrative tools and techniques in Qualified Domestic Relations Order Handbook help plan administrators streamline the entire QDRO review and compliance process, while cutting the risk of errors, penalties, and litigation. They include model policies and procedures, review checklists, staff training cases, and more. Contains new models and guidelines for drafting airtight QDROs that speed approval, maximize your clients' rights, and steer you through the malpractice minefields of ERISA and the IRC. Author Gary Shulman begins with QDRO basics, then dissects the key elements of defined contribution and defined benefits plans. He walks you through the preparation of QDROs for different plans and conditions -- using tested models and sample language. An entire chapter highlights 17 crucial malpractice traps, followed by checklists, attorney Q&A, and tips on working proactively with plan administrators.
Widely recognized as the definitive work on the topic, Qualified Domestic Relations Order Handbook, Fourth Edition, written by Gary A. Shulman, turns the most confusing QDRO issues into clear answers and step-by-step guidelines. Drawing on years of experience, Shulman steers you past the QDRO pitfalls, with expert tips, drafting checklists, and even a special chapter on 29 areas of high liability risk. In this volume you'll find: For Attorneys: Over 20 model QDROs for use with all types of retirement plans Comprehensive model separation agreement language that you can incorporate directly into decrees to ensure that all of the QDRO issues are properly addressed Easy-to-understand explanations for complex QDRO issues such as pre- and post-retirement survivorship, separate interest vs. shared, early retirement subsidies and supplements, coverture formulas, etc. Guidance on how to draft and administer child support QDROs Dozens of tips on how to detect potentially hazardous deficiencies in the "company model" QDRO Detailed instructions and models for dividing federal Civil Service, FERS, thrift savings plan, and military pensions For Plan Administrators: How to quickly identify flaws and interpret conflicting language in defined benefit and defined contribution plan QDROs A Comprehensive QDRO Compliance Manual (with Model QDROs) that you can adapt for your own company's use Case studies and sample multiple-choice tests to help train your QDRO review staff Streamlining tips and default procedures that will help your company expedite the QDRO Approval Process Why waste time and risk costly errors by working with scattered resources and partial information? With the QDRO Handbook, Fourth Edition, you'll save time as well as trouble. It provides fast, definitive resolutions to all your QDRO questions. And because it's designed for both attorneys and plan administrators, it helps you anticipate questions throughout the entire drafting and approval process. That means less guesswork, fewer delays and most importantly, less liability exposure. Qualified Domestic Relations Order Handbook provides everything you need to draft or administer QDROs promptly and accurately, with a superb toolkit of resources for attorneys and administrators, including: 21 QDRO models for all types of plans and conditions Step-by-step drafting guidelines Model language for specific circumstances Model discovery letters for requesting retirement plan information Sample correspondence Drafting and compliance checklists Company policies and procedures manual Appendices of related statutory provisions And much more!
Whether you work with Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) frequently or only occasionally, this is a must-have resource. It provides a basic knowledge of the substantive law of QDROs, with step-by-step explanations and discussion of advanced techniques for all stages of the drafting and approval process. It also includes sample language and clauses with commentary, model letters, forms, interrogatories, and checklists.
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
This new and comprehensive book will give you exactly what you need to understand and comply with the law. It provides an overview of the provisions for the new Bankruptcy Reform Act including new sanctions provisions in Chapter 7 cases; regulation of attorneys as debt relief agencies; heightened requirements for reaffirmation agreements.
