Your spouse has a pension and it's a very valuable asset. In fact, it is the main fund that you plan to use when you retire. Your spouse has worked at this job for decades in part because they want those pension payments. But now you are getting divorced, so you're...
Dividing your pension during divorce
When you and your spouse have decided that you’re going to divorce, you may need to divide your pension. If you have a pension as a part of your retirement plan, you will need to determine the kind of plan it is actually a pension or if it is a contribution retirement...
Asset transfers “incident to the divorce” and capital gains taxes
If you and your spouse have a number of valuable and/or complex assets that you’re going to be transferring to one another (or maybe just from one person to the other) as part of your divorce, you don’t want to end up having to pay capital gains tax on assets you’re...
Your divorce lawyer didn’t get you a QDRO? It’s not too late for one
Your divorce was undoubtedly a hectic and stressful affair, with settlements to negotiate, court hearings to attend, documents to file and possibly even litigation in court. Even if you were blessed with a divorce that was relatively free of contention, you still had...
2 reasons why it is best to file a QDRO sooner rather than later
A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) can help you secure the share of your spouse’s retirement benefits you are entitled to when you divorce. You can take one out at the time of the divorce or can do it later. Does that mean you should mark it as something to...
Calculating retirement benefits using a QDRO
In New York, divorcing couples can use a variety of ways to divide the portion of the retirement benefits that will be paid to an ex-spouse as part of the divorce settlement. Once the spouses reach an agreement, the information will be included in a QDRO or qualified...
How to receive your assets with a QDRO
A QDRO or qualified domestic relations order gives a former spouse access to retirement plan interest in a divorce. Interest in a retirement plan can not be administered to someone other than the plan participant without a court-ordered QDRO. This may require...
How is the ex-spouse’s share calculated in a QDRO?
In a divorce, retirement accounts are often some of the largest assets. When one of the spouses has a pension, that pension may be included as a marital asset that must be divided equitably between the parties. In New York, the courts typically use the Majauskas...
How to split a pension in New York
If you get divorced in New York state, you may be entitled to a portion of a former spouse's pension benefits. In most cases, the Majauskas formula is used to calculate how much an individual is allowed to receive. However, other methods may be used to create an...
Dividing retirement assets when you divorce
The division of retirement assets in a divorce is a complex matter that requires special considerations. You can’t just look at the total on the most recent statement and go off that. One of the primary things that you need to determine is whether the retirement...