You’ve devoted decades to your career, working hard day-in and day-out to provide for your family. As a reward for you hard work, your employer has agreed to pay you a pension. Although this benefit can be financial lifeline in retirement, it can also come under attack in your divorce. After all, given that our state recognizes equitable division of marital assets, your spouse will try to get their hands on what they perceive to be their fair share of the marital estate. This can include your pension benefits.
How can you handle pension benefits in your divorce?
You have a few options when it comes to dealing with a pension during divorce. To start, though, it’s important to recognize that your pension benefits will likely be deemed part of the marital estate and thus subject to division. Therefore, you’ll have to be prepared to find a way to divide these assets.
One option is to agree to share the benefit with your spouse, whether it’s received on a monthly basis or in a lump sum. This division can be fair, but it doesn’t have to be a 50/50 split. So, consider your and your spouse’s financial positioning post-divorce and what sort of division makes the most sense here.
If that option leaves you uncomfortable, then you might want to consider other ways to offset your spouse’s interest in your pension benefits. This could include giving them more equity in the martial residence or giving them a larger share of other marital assets. Just make sure you’re not giving away too much.
Protect your interests during divorce
We know it can be stressful to think about giving up some of your pension benefits during divorce. However, there are divorce strategies that you can implement to protect your interests and ensure that you have strong financial positioning post-divorce. If you’d like to learn more about how to develop your divorce legal arguments, please continue to read our blog and the rest of our website.