Skip to main content

Will My Spouse Get Part of My Retirement in Our Texas Divorce?


If you want to related guideline confidentiality Texas Child Law experience, So you can better suggestions in Will My Spouse Get Part of My Retirement in Our Texas Divorce?

Kingwood Divorce Attorney: One of the things my client or potential clients are often concerned about during their Texas divorce is their retirement accounts. They want to know if they are going to be able to keep their retirement. The answer to that question as with many questions of law depends on the facts of each case.

Your Retirement May be Community Property
Under Texas law, income earned during the course of a marriage considered to be joint, community property. In the same manner retirement savings, whether in the form of an IRA, 401K or pension, are also joint property if earned during the marriage. It is not as simple as taking half of what is in your account and ceding it to your spouse, however.

When a couple divorces, each spouse has an interest to part of the retirement benefits that have accrued during the time period that they were married. This means that all of the monetary contributions made, gains and losses in the account that came to be during the marriage are fair game.

When going through a Texas divorce you will need to gather all the information you can regarding your retirement accounts such as:

> The start date
> The most recent statement and
> The plan administrator’s contact information
> Any documentation showing what you had in your retirement account prior to marriage

Part of Your Retirement May be Separate Property

The Woodlands Divorce Attorney: It is important to figure out what was in your retirement accounts prior to marriage. As discussed Texas is a community property state. The presumption in Texas is that anything owned during the marriage is presumed to be community property and is thus divisible by the Court.

However, if you can prove that part of the retirement account is separate property, then the Court cannot divide or award your spouse the portion of the retirement account that is separate property.

In Texas, separate property is property that:

> you owned it prior to marriage
> Inherited either prior to or during the marriage, or
> was gifted to you either prior to or during the marriage

If you are going through a Texas Divorce, it is your burden to prove that you owned retirement accounts prior to the marriage. One good way to prove that you owned a retirement account prior to marriage is by producing the statement from the month prior to marriage that shows the balance in the retirement account at that time. It is important to start gathering this information early on in the divorce not later. If you cannot prove what you owned prior to marriage then the Court will treat it all as community property.

How is Retirement Divided after a Texas Divorce?

How does the retirement pie gets sliced up? As with other areas of the divorce, how the retirement account is divided can be negotiable.

There is no set amount that needs to be divided- in some cases, the parties will agree to not touch one retirement account or another. Typically cases do settle prior to a trial and the court will typically accept whatever division the parties deem to be equitable.

Qualified Domestic Relations Orders

Spring Divorce Lawyers: Retirement accounts such as a 401K or pensions will involve additional steps and documents to in order to divide these types of retirement accounts. In addition to the final divorce decree dividing an additional order known of as a Qualified Domestic Relations Order is needed.

A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is a special court order that is sent to the retirement plan's administrator for processing. A QDRO is a legal tool that divides a retirement account into two separate accounts between spouses. The QDRO will:

> Set the date the division of the retirement account will occur. For example, the retirement account will be divided as of the date of divorce or another date as stated in the QDRO.
> The QDRO will set the percentage or dollar amount each spouse will be awarded from the retirement.
> If there is a loan against the retirement account the QDRO will say which spouse will assume responsibility for that loan.

If the order is not received, approved and qualified by the plan it has no legal effect and the former spouse's assets cannot be divided.

Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX: Many plan administrators have their own recommended QDRO that they prefer for participants to use. Some QDROs can be rather complicated and it is not done right the QDRO may be rejected and then it will have to be redone. It is possible to have QDRO submitted to the plan administrator for prior approval before having the Judge sign the QDRO.

Retirement assets are some of the most contested and highly important in any divorce case. With that being said, the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC are qualified in our own right to discuss your case and the individual situation with you. Our office works almost 100 percent on family law cases and consultations with one of our attorneys are free of charge ... Continue Reading
Labels:
Location: 3707 Cypress Creek Pkwy Suite 400, Houston, TX 77068, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Husband Not the Father, what do I do in a Texas Divorce?

If you want to related guideline confidentiality Texas Child Law experience, So you can better suggestions in Husband Not the Father, what do I do in a Texas Divorce? Family Lawyers in Houston : This year I have had several consults in which the wives I have met with have brought up how their husbands are not the father of one of their children. In many of these consults, the women were surprised to learn that this would somehow complicate their divorce. Many aspects of a Texas divorce regarding children are like those of a Texas suit affecting parent-child relationships that unmarried couple goes through when they need court orders regarding children. However, there are differences which we will explore in today’s blog topic. The Presumption of Paternity Family Law Attorneys Houston : A good starting point for understanding how an extramarital child can complicate a divorce in Texas Family Code Section 160.204 which states that: > A man is presumed to be the father of ...
1 comment
Read more

What can be done if CPS has taken possession of your child in Texas?

If you want to related guideline confidentiality Texas Child Law experience, So you can better suggestions in What can be done if CPS has taken possession of your child in Texas? Family Lawyers Houston : Under the Texas Family Code, Child Protective Services (CPS) is provided a great deal of authority to investigate allegations of abuse or neglect against your child and ultimately to remove him or her from your home if it is believed that such an action is warranted. CPS has set up hotlines that are monitored twenty four hours a day and seven days a week for people to report these allegations in a confidential manner. Certain people- doctors, lawyers, teachers and police officers among them- are obligated by law to report instances of abuse or neglect that are discovered. If a report involves your child then a CPS office in your area is contacted and an investigation will begin. Once the CPS investigation begins what is your role as a parent? As soon as aCPS case worker rece...
Post a Comment
Read more

Can family violence render a Mediated Settlement Agreement void?

If you want to related guideline confidentiality Texas Child Law experience, So you can better suggestions in Can family violence render a Mediated Settlement Agreement void? Spring TX Divorce Lawyer : This past week the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC posted a blog article that centered around mediated settlement agreements in family law cases. We discussed how these documents are binding in almost every circumstance. State law mandates that a court issue an order reflective of the mediated settlement agreement of two parties that enter into one. Courts typically are in favor of MSAs because they lighten their overburdened docket of cases. The parties themselves typically like them as well since time and money are saved by not having to go all the way to a trial in their case. Not to mention that the agreement that is reached more than likely is better than any judgment that a court could render. What happens in a situation where you believe that good cause...
Post a Comment
Read more