A property division law attorney in Katy, TX assists divorcing couples with complicated distribution of their assets. Especially when spouses have been married for many years, their financial lives may be thoroughly intertwined with assets such as real estate, recreational vehicles, and stock portfolios. One or both spouses may have a retirement plan set up through work or directly, and there may be a pension involved as well.
The state of Texas considers contributions to retirement plans as income, so contributions made during the marriage qualify as community property. The spouse with the retirement plan typically must pay the other spouse for half the value. This individual may not want to disrupt the plan in any way, so they will need to come up with that money elsewhere. If the two are dividing real estate proceeds, for example, the other spouse may receive a larger percentage.
Similarly, a future pension must also be divided between the two spouses. A property division law attorney in Katy, TX can determine what amount the law will require to be distributed to the other spouse. It mainly depends on the amount that was contributed to the pension by the company during the years of marriage. However, if the divorce case proceeds to court, a judge may decide the other spouse should receive more. That type of requirement is usually associated with one spouse not working during most or all of the years of marriage. That individual likely counted on receiving retirement benefits from the spouse.
Some pension plans and other retirement plans do not allow withdrawals before the employee stops working for the company. In that case, the spouse must wait for payments. The plans and their rules can be difficult to understand, especially when factoring division of assets into the picture.
Another important consideration is that a divorced spouse can receive Social Security retirement benefits on the former partner’s account if they were married for at least 10 years. It does not matter whether that individual has remarried. Attorneys with an organization such as The Vendt Law Firm can explain this in detail.
