Retirement Benefits

Long Island Divorce Lawyer

Any retirement benefits that have built up during the marriage will generally be considered marital property and may be subject to distribution between the parties. Generally, each party is entitled to half of the benefits that accrued during the marriage. However, there are circumstances under which this may not be the case.

Retirement accounts and pensions must be discussed in detail and considered in light of the totality of circumstances in your case. Rather than distribute these assets, parties will often elect to take more of another asset, such as a piece of real estate or funds contained in another account to offset any waiver of funds a party may have been entitled to from a retirement account and/or pension. If a retirement asset is to be distributed between the parties as part of a divorce action, you will generally need to obtain a court order directing the distribution of these assets, which is called a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). You will need an attorney to assist you in analyzing and distributing the retirement assets of both you and your spouse, and to assist you in obtaining a QDRO in order to divide those assets. Call us today at (631) 736-0500 so that we can guide you through this process.