The pension account you have been building throughout your working life is surely of utmost importance to you. It will help with expenses big and small while you enjoy your retirement and generally provide you with a sense of financial security in your golden years. If you are going through a divorce, though, your nest egg could be split between you and your ex-spouse.
Family law courts in Connecticut, and every state at that matter, view pension plans and similar retirement plans as marital property that is subject to asset division by default. It is assumed that you were building your pension and padding it with finances with a shared retirement for yourself and your spouse in mind. Many pension plans will actually make automatic payments to your ex-spouse whenever you also receive a payment, simplifying the process. If you make no effort to protect your pension plan, it is likely that half of it will go to your spouse. Although, it must be stressed that every divorce case involving a pension is fact-based and therefore ultimately unique.
If you want to try to keep most or all of your pension, you may need to fight for it and create a convincing argument as to why your plan for your pension’s use or division after your divorce finalizes is the right one. It may feel like an uphill legal battle, but it will not be an unwinnable one.
You may be able to argue that you deserve a larger portion of your pension if:
- Your ex-spouse holds and has held gainful employment.
- Your marriage lasted a relatively short amount of time.
- You and your ex-spouse are both comparatively young.
- Your ex-spouse will receive other sizeable assets in the divorce.
As stated, Connecticut family law courts generally do not like splitting hairs over pension plans and would rather divide it equally for simplicity’s sake. If you want to keep your fair share, you will have to stand up for your rights and let the court know. Thankfully, you don’t have to do this alone.
Goldblatt, Marquette & Rashba, PC and our New Haven family lawyers are here to help you through thick and thin. When you are trying to manage all the aspects of your divorce, including asset division, you can turn to us for trusted counsel and a helping hand. We approach each case involving a pension plan as the unique, highly-detailed situation it is to ensure that our clients get a personalized legal solution, not a premanufactured one.
Call 203.687.4050 or contact us online to learn more how your retirement or pension account situation should be handled.