ComplaintsforAmy Thomas Perez Law Firm, PC

• Initial Complaint

  12/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am the Financial Power of Attorney for my mother. My mother divorced my stepfather and the divorce was final April 14, 2022, along with a court ordered distribution of pension assets. Amy Perez Law Firm hired an administrator to process the court ordered distribution of court assets but the firm they hired is apparently incompetent, because that firm failed at least twice to satisfy the paperwork requirements of the pension office. We were told that Amy Perez Law Firm hired another administrator to complete the paperwork, however, they refuse to give us updates, refuse to respond to email, refuse to call us back, and have so far refused to provide any information regarding who they hired to complete this task. What I am seeking is for this firm to provide to my mother and I, the name, address and telephone number of the firm or person they have assigned the administrative task of processing and completing the court ordered distribution of pension assets. We also ask that this firm be responsive and not ignore our emails and telephone calls. Sincerely, Gary ****

  Business response

  12/22/2022

  Due to attorney-client confidentiality laws in the State of Texas, I am unable to provide case specific information to the BBB to respond to this complaint adequately and completely. I will however speak to information provided by Mr. ****.
  

  A Final Decree of Divorce was signed by the Court on April 14, 2022, and in the Decree his mother was awarded a portion of her ex-husband’s pension. For a pension to be divided, the pension plan’s administrator needs a signed court order authorizing the division. This order is called a Qualified Domestic Relation Order (QDRO) and is separate from a Final Decree of Divorce. A QDRO is typically submitted to the Court for signature after a Decree. It can be a lengthy process to prepare a QDRO and get pre-approval from a Plan Administrator. Because each retirement plan is unique, and therefore, each QDRO is unique, we outsource the drafting of the QDRO to experts in this field.

  
  The first business hired to draft the QDRO is well regarded in the area as the “go-to experts” in QDROs and retirement plans. The principal of this business regularly provides expert testimony to Court’s in Harris County. This is the business that Mr. **** alleges is incompetent. A QDRO was drafted and submitted to the plan administrator for review. Once submitted for review, we must wait for the plan to respond in writing with pre-approval or any changes needed to the Order. We have no control over how quickly the plan administrator reviews and responds. It is not unusual for it to take 2-3 months to receive a response from the plan. As Mr. **** indicated, the plan sent revisions back twice. While this is by no means unusual to receive multiple rounds of revisions from this plan, Mr. **** indicated he was unhappy with the 3rd party business originally used to draft. In response to his complaint, we hired a 2nd business to review and draft a new QDRO pursuant to the plan administrator’s revisions. The firm paid 100% of the cost for the new draft.
  

  Mr. ****’s allegation that we have failed to provide information or respond to him is not accurate. We have provided updates when available. We have responded within a few days each time Mr. **** has requested an update. While I understand Mr. ****’s frustration with this process, we have continued to work diligently and respond quickly when required to address this matter. Significant time and expense has been spent trying to resolve this issue at ZERO cost to the client. In fact, the Firm has not charged anything to the client since the completion of the Final Decree of Divorce in April. We have also ensured that the client receives any monthly payments she would be entitled to if the QDRO had already been completed. At this point, we are at the mercy of the plan administrator. We’ve been waiting on a response from them for 8 weeks. We have sent weekly requests for updates to the contact person at the Plan with little to no response.

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