Divorce Talk Radio GuestThis individual was a guest on the Divorce–Lisa Zonder Style radio show, and is not affiliated with Zonder Family Law Group, A Professional Corporation.
Biography:
Louise Nixon, Attorney
QDRO Counsel Inc., a professional law corporation
Practice Areas
- Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (“QDROs”) for private retirement plans
- Domestic Relations Orders (“DROs”) for nonqualified plans
- Domestic Relations Orders (“DROs”) for public retirement plans
- Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”)
- IRC 408 Division Orders for individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”)
Biography
Since 1994, Louise Nixon’s law practice has focused on retirement benefits, specifically determining the community or marital interest in pension benefits earned through employment and in consulting and/or drafting appropriate orders for the division and disposition of those interests. Ms. Nixon is founder and president of QDRO Counsel Inc., a professional law corporation.
Ms. Nixon spent many years practicing with Laquer, Urban, Clifford & Hodge LLP, a firm known for representing several union multi-employer trust funds, such as the Operating Engineers Pension Trust. While at the firm, Ms. Nixon managed all aspects of the review and approval process of QDROs, handled federal court litigation and negotiated cases in the employee benefits field involving complex pension issues. As a plan attorney, she drafted plan “sample QDROs” and “QDRO procedures,” and mediated between parties and the plan to resolve pension disputes.
Ms. Nixon keeps abreast of changes to ERISA, case law, other governmental codes or regulations affecting retirement plans. Her years of experience as an ERISA attorney enables her to prepare QDROs for all types of plans for parties in a divorce, to comprehensively review QDROs already prepared for compliance and fairness, and to reach solutions to complex pension issues. When retained by one or both parties in a divorce, Ms. Nixon incorporates her skills and experiences as a plan attorney in drafting the QDROs and maneuvering through the plan approval process. Over Ms. Nixon’s tenure in this area of law, she estimates to have drafted, reviewed and issued opinions on well over 10,000 QDROs.
Ms. Nixon received her BA from the University of California, Davis in 1984 and her JD from Whittier Law School in 1993. Before she began her legal career, Ms. Nixon worked as a legislative aide in Washington, D.C. and as public relations director for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. Personally Ms. Nixon is involved with Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority as well as local church and community activities.
Ms. Nixon is a recurrent family law court appointed expert on QDROs. She is a frequent speaker for family law groups and Bar Associations, employee benefit groups, and local to national continuing legal education (CLE) organizations.
Charity Work
For many years, Ms. Nixon has provided pro bono legal work for Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law (hbcfl.org) which is one of the most innovative legal programs in the nation designed specifically to provide free legal services for low income families in turmoil. In a recent interview she stated “I regularly do QDROs for the Center often for someone like a divorced mom living on the street with kids. Many times there are pension funds that I can get for that mom to get her and her kids off the street!”