New York Divorce Attorney Services Focused on Protecting Your Retirement Benefits
Carla McKain is a highly experienced New York divorce attorney with a distinctive specialization in Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs), offering clients comprehensive legal support in one place. Retirement assets are often among the most significant and complex components of a divorce settlement. Unlike many firms that refer clients to a separate attorney to handle QDROs, McKain Law provides integrated expertise, guiding clients from the initial negotiation through final qualification and plan approval. Carla’s deep knowledge of ERISA and retirement plan structures ensures that QDROs are not only accurate but fully aligned with each plan’s requirements, helping to protect her clients' long-term financial interests. Her practice is built on efficiency, clarity, and precision, eliminating the common delays and confusion that arise when QDROs are treated as an afterthought.
What sets Carla apart is her proactive, detail-oriented approach to preserving critical retirement benefits throughout the divorce process. She works closely with clients and plan administrators to ensure survivorship rights, loan adjustments, and unique plan provisions are properly addressed, often well before the divorce is finalized. By initiating the QDRO process early, she helps avoid costly mistakes and ensures smoother transitions for her clients. Whether representing New York clients in divorce proceedings or preparing QDROs for individuals nationwide, McKain Law offers trusted, end-to-end legal support with a rare combination of family law and retirement plan expertise. For clients, that means peace of mind knowing their financial future is protected—all under one roof.
Who we help wITH OUR QDRO and Divorce ATTORNEY SERVICES:
Spouses in the state of New York who need to dissolve their marriage;
Ex-spouses that need a QDRO (or similar order) after their divorce is final (available nationwide);
Family law attorneys handling a divorce who need to understand and negotiate retirement benefits, and ultimately need a QDRO or other order;
Mediators or collaborative attorneys helping couples through divorce who are not familiar with the technical rules of ERISA or other laws governing retirement benefits; and
Ex-spouses, parents, or guardians who are owed maintenance or child support and whose ex-spouse has retirement assets in his or her name somewhere in the country.
Learn More About the Attorney Services Offered at McKain Law
NY DIVORCE
Only Available in New York
QDRO
Available Nationwide
ERISA
Available Nationwide
About Carla McKain
Carla N. McKain, principal attorney for McKain Law PLLC, advises and represents clients who are entitled to employee benefits under employer-sponsored plans. She gained experience working on matters arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, while in law school. Ms. McKain received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law. Subsequently, Ms. McKain was an associate attorney at several firms exclusively focused on representing union-sided trustees of large multiemployer pension and welfare funds governed by ERISA. After moving from the D.C. area to upstate New York, Ms. McKain built an ERISA practice while working at a large firm before starting her own practice, McKain Law PLLC, in January 2013.
McKain Law, PLLC has obtained positive results for clients in areas like:
Working with divorce attorneys to understand, negotiate, and draft qualified domestic relations orders for ongoing divorce cases;
Handling unresolved QDROs for one or both ex-spouses who already have a divorce judgment, even if the divorce was many years ago;
Assisting with claims related to employer-provided health, disability, and retirement plans;
Representing clients appealing a denied claim during the administrative process before insurance companies or self-funded plans;
Litigating ERISA claims relating to complex mental health coverage parity rules;
Litigating claims in federal court to obtain or reinstate benefits denied after an appeal; and
Requesting plan documents and other information to which you are entitled, and obtaining monetary penalties against the employer for failure to timely provide that information