Press Release: 2022 | News, Press & Media
Making Dividing Retirement Benefits in Divorce Accessible
With training and mentoring for nonprofit legal service providers and court-based self-help centers, along with an exclusive license to drafting software, the Center for Access to QDROs is closing the justice gap to ensure that low and moderate income persons receive their entitlement to retirement assets in a divorce.
Divorce impacts individuals of all income levels. But for low to moderate-income individuals, the largest marital assets are usually a home and the pension. During a divorce, often the division of the pension is postponed or forgotten. This often leads to the loss of a financial asset for the most financially vulnerable individuals. Lack of information and access to assistance is the main obstacle in obtaining this asset. The Center for Access to QDROs was founded to close the justice gap when it comes to the division of retirement assets in a divorce.
The Center for Access to QDROs was established by the founders of QDROCounsel, a legal technology company for pension division. QDROCounsel, through its founders, have a long standing commitment to pro bono services. QDROCounsel has provided their revolutionary software and help desk assistance to nonprofits for free and also assists low to moderate income family law litigants on a pro bono basis.
In 2022, QDROCounsel, partnered with the nonprofit legal service provider, Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law for the Dividing Pensions in Divorce Project. Due to the Harriett Buhai Center’s trailblazing efforts assisting their clients with pension division, they were awarded a grant by the California State Bar’s California Access to Justice Commission. The grant monies enabled the creation of the Dividing Pensions in Divorce Project, which provided FREE training, software, and mentoring to nonprofit legal aid programs and court-based self-help centers providing family law assistance to low and moderate income persons. The Project created and increased capacity among nonprofit legal service providers and court-based self-help centers to assist family law litigants divide retirement benefits.
The Center for Access to QDROs was created due to the success of this 2022 Project, coupled with the founders of QDROCounsel’s commitment to ensure retirement benefits division is accessible to all and a desire to continue assisting low to moderate income family law litigants on a wider scale.
As a non-profit organization, the Center for Access to QDROs (“the Center”) strives to maintain transparency and ethical practices in all our relationships, including those with for-profit corporations. In the interest of full disclosure, we would like to inform you of the financial relationship between the Center and QDROCounsel LLC, a legal technology company for retirement division (“QDROCounsel”). The Center has established a relationship with QDROCounsel in the form of a financial agreement. QDROCounsel has provided the Center with financial support by donating an exclusive license to use QDROCounsel’s technology and by providing the resources to support that technology. In exchange for this support, QDROCounsel receives recognition for its corporate social responsibly in closing the justice gap by providing access to high-quality QDRO products to nonprofit legal services organizations, self-help centers & qualified individuals in financial distress. The financial relationship with QDROCounsel does not compromise the integrity or independence of the Center’s non-profit’s operations, programs, or decision-making processes. We adhere to our mission and values in all our activities, and we do not allow any donor, including QDROCounsel to influence our decisions or policies. The Center believes that our relationship with QDROCounsel is mutually beneficial, and it allows us to better serve our community and achieve our strategic goals.
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Center for Access to QDROs is a 501(c)(3) under federal tax guidelines.