Dividing Your Retirement Accounts Can Be More Complicated Than You Think
Going through a divorce is hardly ever a casual circumstance and is most often never easy or simple. Mandatory full financial disclosure can be tedious. Acquiring retirement assets during marriage creates marital interests which must be identified, and in some situations, calculations by experts may be required. Distributing marital interests in retirement accounts, once each party’s interests is determined, can be distributed in a more simple or more formal way in order to avoid harsh and significant income tax outcomes. We will educate and guide our client, in order for he or she to be totally informed of all of the intricacies involved in distributing retirement account assets.
Sheldon E. Finman, P.A., practices alternative dispute resolution methods to help couples agree on how to separate their retirement funds without going through the adversarial process of court proceedings. Using these methods frequently helps each person move forward with his or her life more quickly. It also allows for better communication and family bonds.
Understanding How To Divide Retirement Assets
Because retirement accounts are tax-deferred assets, giving a larger chunk to one or the other member of a couple may not be to his or her advantage in the long run. At some point, taxes will have to be paid on that asset, and if one of you takes more money upfront and the other takes retirement accounts, the person who is letting his or her asset grow will end up with the worse deal.
It is important to divide any kind of security equally and in kind. The cost basis of pre-tax or after-tax securities requires an equal in-kind division of these assets. Division of retirement accounts must factor deferred income tax and therefore should be divided equally, or if not, consideration should be given to an “after-tax” calculation.
We Will Guide You To An Equitable Arrangement
An attorney from Sheldon E. Finman, P.A., will sit down with you, your spouse, your spouse’s lawyer, and when necessary, a neutral certified public accountant (CPA) or financial planner to determine what your retirement assets are worth and how best to divide them. If this includes using a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) to divide them equally, it will be arranged. Working with a CPA can also assist in tracing the accumulated marital value of a retirement account that one person owned prior to the marriage.
Divide Your Retirement Accounts With Our Help
Contact us at 239-215-4952, or send an email to schedule an initial consultation. Our law office is in Fort Myers, and we represent clients throughout southwest Florida, including Cape Coral.