The division of military benefits in a Texas Divorce

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Houston Family Lawyers: If you are a person who either serves our country in the military or are married to a spouse who does, enough cannot be said about your family’s sacrifices in order allow your fellow citizens the opportunity to lead successful, productive and happy lives. For this, we all owe you and yours a debt a gratitude.

It would be ideal for your lives to be ones that are lead without strife or hardship, but unfortunately, that can’t always be the case. Hardship can arrive at the foot of your door in the shape of a divorce. Today’s blog topic from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan is on the subject of dividing retirement benefits in a military divorce.

MILITARY RETIREMENT BENEFITS IN A NUTSHELL

Unless you have actually done some research into the subject you may not know exactly what is included in the retirement benefits that you or your spouse have earned through your career in the military.

Throughout your working lives, you may have accumulated a variety of financial accounts that contain money that you can utilize in retirement. 401(k) accounts, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA), and pensions are just a few of the types of retirement plans available to people.

We will not go over each of these today but it is a good idea to read into each of them so you can be aware of how each can impact you both in divorce and retirement.

WHAT IF YOUR SPOUSE HAS THE RETIREMENT PLAN IN THEIR NAME- DO YOU GET CREDIT FOR THEIR HAVING SAVED MONEY?

Houston Divorce: For the answer to this question, we would take a look at whether or not the money was contributed to the retirement account before or after the date you and your spouse became married.

If the money was contributed before you were married then the state of Texas considers those contributions to be the separate property of your spouse and not subject to division in your divorce.

On the other hand, if the money was contributed to a retirement account after the date on which you were married then those contributions are considered to be community property and are subject to division in your divorce.

Just as it would with a bank account and income deposited into that account during your marriage, it does not matter if your name appears on the retirement account or who actually contributed the money.

You will get credit depending on when the money was deposited not whose name is on the account or from whose job the deposits came from. It can be the case that retirement accounts are made up of both community and separate property.

DOES THE LENGTH OF YOUR MARRIAGE HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOUR ABILITY TO ACCESS RETIREMENT BENEFITS IN DIVORCE?

Houston Family Law Attorney: A lawyer’s favorite answer to give anyone when asked a question is: “It depends.” That response is applicable for the question I posed in the title to this section, as well. We will need to examine the sort of retirement account that is relevant to your case.

When you consider an IRA or 401(k) then the length of your marriage has no effect on if the account is divisible in your divorce. However, a judge does not have to split these type of accounts straight down the middle. A just and right division of community property is the standard with which a judge would divide up any community property in your case- retirement accounts included.

An example to illustrate this point is if you and your spouse married later in life after your spouse had already contributed twenty year’s worth of income into her employer’s 401(k). Unfortunately, after only one year of marriage, you filed for divorce from your spouse.

In this situation, the first twenty year’s worth of retirement contributions would be considered your spouse’s separate property and would not be subject to division in your divorce. The final year’s worth of retirement savings are subject to division- but even then a judge does not have to award you a portion. He or she could award you other sums of money equal to the retirement account in order to allow the retirement to not be divided up.

When it comes to pension plans, military retirement benefits and social security benefits then there are different rules on how the length of your marriage can affect your eligibility to receive a portion of retirement funds upon divorce.

HOW CAN YOU FIND OUT WHETHER OR NOT YOUR SPOUSE EVEN HAS ANY RETIREMENT BENEFITS SAVED?

Divorce Lawyers in Houston: During the course of your marriage did you and your spouse rarely, if ever, discuss financial matters like retirement? If so, then you can count yourself among the many, many Americans who are in the same boat as you. With the hurried pace of our day to day lives, it is not uncommon to focus on other, more pressing issues than down the road topics like retirement.

If you are contemplating a divorce it may be worthwhile to look at a paycheck that your spouse receives to see if there is money being taken out to go towards a retirement plan of some sort. If your spouse is a member of the military then it is likely that their pension will send out periodic statements to your home and also have a notation on each paycheck with the amount stated which goes to their pension fund.

MORE ON MILITARY RETIREMENT TO BE POSTED IN TOMORROW’S BLOG FROM THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN

Thank you for showing an interest in this important topic. Tomorrow we will continue our discussion on retirement benefits and divorce and hope you return to read and learn more.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about this topic or any other in the field of family law please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Consultations with our licensed family law attorneys are free of charge and are available six days a week … Continue Reading