Are you planning to end your marriage in Florida? There may be issues related to finances and custody that can become contentious. Even if your children are grown, there are plenty of other issues to work out. One of them may be splitting your retirement pension.
Are you legally required to split retirement?
One possible outcome of a divorce settlement is that one of the parties will be required by the court to split their retirement plan. The split may be roughly equal or proportionate according to the needs of the other spouse. This division will be made according to the rules that govern this type of court-ordered transfer.
You should be aware that during the actual process of divorce, you will not be required to pay taxes on an immediate division of your retirement pension. This will be as long as you make sure to file the accounts with the court. You can have a financial or legal adviser help you file them in the correct manner.
What types of retirement plans are normally divided?
The court will normally oversee the division of your retirement plan in order to avoid an adversarial divorce. This is also done in order to expedite the process. A series of qualified domestic relations orders will typically be issued in order to oversee the division of all retirement accounts that are not classified as IRAs.
Any division of an IRA that has to be made will be classified by the court as a transfer incident to divorce. You may also wish to update your list of beneficiaries. Your former spouse will normally not be included among them unless the court orders this addition to be made.
