Pension Project

The Mid-Atlantic Pension Counseling Project

Since 2003, the Mid-Atlantic Pension Counseling Project (MAPCP) at Legal Services NYC has cut a trailblazing path as the only legal services organization in New York State proving free legal assistance to individuals who have been unable to obtain the pension benefits they are entitled to. We serve clients with their pension problems throughout New York State and New Jersey. The MAPCP toll-free helpline is 800-355-7714.

Typical cases we work on involve:

  • Disputes about whether a client earned enough credits to receive a pension;
  • Pension rights of individuals who have been divorced, or who were married to a person with a pension who has died;
  • Cases in which a pension plan administrator has stonewalled a client who has asked for information about his or her pension;
  • Investigations to track down “lost pensions,” i.e., pensions from employers who have moved or disappeared into the abyss of mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcies, as well as pensions from plans that have been terminated or are under the receivership of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

Beyond the Numbers:

Mrs. O. had divorced her husband in the early 1980s. As part of the property settlement and divorce decree, she was supposed to receive a portion of his pension benefits when he reached age 65 in 2005. When 2005 rolled around, however, Mrs. O. faced several obstacles to obtaining her share of the pension. First, she did not know whom to contact. As often happens nowadays, Mr. O. had changed jobs several times and the company he had worked for during their marriage had declared bankruptcy since their divorce. With investigation, MAPCP uncovered that the company’s pension had been taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). The PBGC is a quasi-governmental agency that insures many pensions to guarantee that workers will receive the pensions they spend so many years earning, even when the company they worked for goes bankrupt.

Second, even though the property settlement and judgment of divorce had awarded Mrs. O. a portion of the pension, she did not have a “Qualified Domestic Relations Order” or QDRO. A QDRO is a technical order that is required to direct a pension plan to pay a spouse (or child or other dependent) a portion of the retirement benefits. QDROs must satisfy complicated requirements set out by federal law and the plan’s governing documents. In fact, because of their complexity, many divorce lawyers prefer to have them drafted by outside experts, which often means additional and often prohibitive expense to the client. MAPCP’s advocates regularly draft QDROs and file them in state court at no charge. This service can make a significant difference in the lives of our clients. For example, in Mrs. O.’s case, she received her first monthly check for a little over $400 in December. While this might be too small for Mrs. O. to have hired a private attorney to draft and file the QDRO, it is substantial enough to help secure her current and future needs.

This case illustrates how MAPCP’s work frequently involves other areas of law and how the project helps working-class people maintain their hard-earned security in their retirement.

 

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