Providing Effective Solutions So You Can Move On to the Next Chapter of Your Life After Divorce
Anne Prenner Schmidt represents clients across Illinois in employee benefits and retirement asset division, collaborative divorce, divorce mediation, estate planning, and family law matters. She is also a nationally recognized authority on the division of retirement assets and serves as a consultant to attorneys across the country on Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs), Qualified Illinois Domestic Relations Orders (QILDROs), and federal retirement orders. Her LL.M. in Employee Benefits and her experience at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration give her a depth of technical knowledge few family lawyers can match.
Anne Schmidt
Experienced. Compassionate.
Divorce Professional.
Anne focuses her practice exclusively on out-of-court resolution. She is a certified mediator, a collaborative law practitioner, and a board member of the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois. She works as a neutral facilitator — not representing either party, but helping both reach lasting agreements.
Her deep knowledge of retirement assets — 401(k) plans, IRAs, pensions, union pensions, deferred compensation, and annuities — combined with her background at the U.S. Department of Labor gives her an inside view of these plans that most family lawyers simply don’t have. It’s also why attorneys throughout Illinois and across the country refer their most complex QDRO and federal retirement order work to her.
She helps clients avoid the stress, strain, and lasting pain of divorce litigation, and approaches every matter with a collaborative, nonadversarial mindset.
Comprehensive Legal Services
For Clients And Consulting Attorneys
Family Law Mediation
Executive Compensation
Our QDRO Process — Eight Steps, Not Eight Pages Of Template
Most QDRO providers draft off a template and hand the document back. That’s a starting point, not a finished matter. A QDRO only does its job when the plan administrator approves it, the court enters it, and the money actually moves to the right account — and every step between draft and distribution is where orders get rejected, money gets lost, or clients end up calling years later to ask why nothing happened.
We run the matter end to end: intake, drafting, plan pre-approval, client and counsel review, signatures, court entry, final approval with the plan, and follow-through until distribution paperwork is in the client’s hands. Denials from the plan are customary — and the corrections are included in our fee, not billed separately.
This is why attorneys across the country refer their most complex division orders to us rather than to a document mill. We are not a document mill. Learn more about our elevated QDRO process.
What Clients Say
One More Thing —
Estate Planning After Divorce
Most people leave divorce with an estate plan that no longer reflects their life — old beneficiary designations, outdated wills, accounts still titled to a former spouse. We now offer flat-fee estate planning as a follow-on service for clients who want to get the rest of their legal house in order. See the estate planning page for details.
Meet Anne
Anne Schmidt
Why Choose The Law Offices Of Anne Schmidt, LLC?
Anne brings extensive knowledge in divorce financial planning. Her Master of Laws degree in Employee Benefits focuses on complex Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-regulated retirement plans and executive compensation, including stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), and deferred compensation.
Before entering private practice, Anne worked for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. She offers the “insider” perspective on federal plan rules and fiduciary correction matters, ensuring retirement assets are divided with technical precision.
She has deep knowledge of Qualified Illinois Domestic Relations Orders (QILDROs) and identifies critical pitfalls that other attorneys often miss. Family law attorneys throughout Illinois and across the country retain her as a consultant on complex division orders, federal retirement plans, and executive compensation matters.
Anne works proactively and strategically. As a certified mediator and collaborative law leader, she focuses exclusively on out-of-court resolutions and gets involved early — reviewing and shaping marital settlement agreement (MSA) language so the final orders are workable, processable, and fair.
The Law Offices Of Anne Schmidt, LLC, is the resource you can trust during a period of transition — whether you’re navigating an Illinois divorce or an attorney anywhere in the country who needs a specialist on a federal retirement order. Arrange a direct consultation with Ms. Schmidt by contacting the firm online or calling 847-926-7679.