Dividing Pensions in a New York Divorce
Your Spouse’s Pension May Be Your Most Valuable Asset
For many divorcees, the so-called “golden years” of retirement can become a long journey across the rocky terrain of financial hardship. Career homemakers who divorce later on in life may find themselves facing vastly reduced circumstances in the wake of a marital breakup. For many middle-aged spouses, it is not unreasonable to fear that a divorce will leave them in financial ruin for the rest of their lives (See Lois Brenner’s Divorce book, “Getting your Share”).
In many of these cases, it is the woman who goes into her divorce on unequal footing and, therefore, must pay careful attention to the long-term consequences of how their marital property is divided. For example, many women will enter and leave the workforce due to the demands of child rearing. This may ultimately result in a lower contribution to their own pension plan – if they have one at all.
When a spouse contributes to their marriage as a homemaker or stay-at-home-parent, they may face a midlife divorce with little understanding that their spouse’s pensions may be their most valuable asset. In reality, the two largest assets that can be divided in a middle-class divorce are often the marital home and the husband’s pension. Many times, the pension is more valuable than the house they live in.
How Pensions Are Divided & Distributed in a Divorce
Many divorcing couples do not realize that pensions are considered marital assets and, thus, subject to equitable distribution. Many times, one spouse has accumulated pension benefits greater than the value of their home. While many people are aware of the possibility of dividing their house or its value, the importance of dividing a pension is not as well known– particularly since its actual distribution may be several years away.
In many cases, the division of a spouse’s pension will be one of the most complicated aspects of divorce. In fact, these issues tend to generate more appeals than any other issue in equitable distribution. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you speak with a knowledgeable divorce lawyer about pensions, 401(k)s, annuities and other deferred compensation options, including tax consequences.
Unlike bank accounts, stocks or bonds, the rights to a pension involve:
- Type and classification
- Valuation
- Distribution
- Qualified domestic relations orders
- Tax consequences
Discuss Your Options with Lois M. Brenner, Esq. Today
If have questions about pension plans and retirement assets, including how they can be divided and distributed in a New York divorce, please contact our team at Lois M. Brenner, Esq. We’re ready to put our experience to work for you.
Contact our office at (646) 663-4546 to schedule your initial consultation with Lois Brenner.
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Lois was an absolute pleasure to work with. She worked on a prenuptial agreement for me. Our very first conversation put me at ease. She was interested in my upcoming marriage and wedding. She assured me the prenuptial agreement could be drafted quickly. She made intelligent recommendations to address some of my complex financial decisions. She also made sound suggestions to protect my multi-million dollar portfolio. Our wedding is coming up and will be a lot smaller than we originally thought due to COVID-19, but Lois Brenner got our prenuptial agreement done in time, and made it a lot more pleasurable experience than I thought it would be. I would recommend Lois to anyone seeking a truly skilled attorney to draft their prenuptial agreement.- Glen Mearns
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"Like at First Sight!" We consulted Lois on the best, most cost-effective way to get divorced. First, she extended a free in-office consultation to us. It was supposed to be one hour; it was an hour and a half. She was gracious, didn’t rush us, explained thoroughly all the ins and outs of going to court, and answered thoroughly lots of our questions. She also shared lots of great information on divorce mediation, which we really knew nothing about, and now we have decided mediation will be the best route for us. We knew in the first 10 minutes that we really liked and trusted her. We are starting our mediation process with her next week. We are really looking forward to working with her. We feel strongly she is the best person for us.- Jen
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I have hired Mrs. Brenner and had the best experience with her in my complicated and intense divorce. She was there for me all the way, always answering promptly any questions I had. She gave me the best advice, in such a caring and kind way. She has an amazing team of specialists, that will cover any needs you might have. I highly recommend Mrs. Brenner, you can feel she’s got your back!- JN
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Thank you Ms. Brenner! It was a rough summer trying to get our parenting agreement together.but you really helped. My ex-husband and I fought all summer about what the children's schedule would be once school started. Your endless guidance and productive sessions with us made all the difference. You straightened us out with your sound, caring advice. We both feel better now. Our kids feel better too. Thank you, thank you. We hope you had a great summer. We will recommend you highly to anyone needing a family law attorney.- Brenda
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I had read about Lois’ unusual divorce method in one of her blog posts. It was refreshing to see someone was working with the psychological issues in divorce. My husband is bipolar and getting him to agree to a divorce and commit to the process was tough. When we met with Lois she really understood him. She immediately identified his mental health issues, and because she has a psych background, she was empathetic to his needs and was skillful at guiding him through her divorce mediation process. It took a while but she really got us to a point where we could actually discuss things without my husband blowing up. Her method is unique and it really helped in our situation. She actually recommended a great psychiatrist who changed my husband’s meds at her urging (she has a medical degree too), and my husband is coping much better. We can’t thank her enough for her compassion and advice! If you need a divorce attorney, especially if mental illness is a part of the fabric of your marriage, go see Lois! Thanks Lois - Lorna P.
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“Keep up the good work!”- Jonathan
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I am a highly successful money manager and before meeting Lois Brenner, hiring a divorce attorney was a disaster. Two previous divorce attorneys really wasted my funds, and had no savvy when it came to asset and property distribution. Lois Brenner finally fixed the mess I was in. She and her team of financial experts, including attorney Matthew Ehrlich were able to prepare an asset and property distribution that was realistic, keeping in mind tax ramifications, and important distributions and allocations. They negotiated a thorough and financially sound divorce settlement. If you have a lot of assets, just any divorce attorney won’t do. You really need someone with a lot of knowledge. Lois Brenner and Matthew Ehrlich were really impressive. Thanks!!- Michael C.
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We have Lois Brenner to thank for turning our marriage around. We hired Lois as our mediator when we were considering divorce. When we started working with her and she realized we wanted to try to keep our marriage together she suggested a postnuptial agreement to get our marriage back on track. Having the postnuptial agreement made us both accountable when it came to our issues. Having this doc in place is clearly helping us redefine our marriage in a better way. I don’t know if we will never get divorced, but for now we are respecting each others’ boundaries and are aware of the consequences if we don’t! It was really cool that Ms. Brenner suggested this method as an option. Most divorce attorneys would not have suggested a way for us to try to stay together. She is very talented and unusual in the best possible way. If we choose to take the divorce path eventually we will definitely hire her again. In the meantime we are making it work. She is amazing.- Joseph M
