If you are going through a divorce case and have retirement accounts of any kind, it is important to know how those retirement accounts will be treated by the Court and common strategies for minimizing the impact on your retirement plans. Retirement accounts come in many different types. Retirement accounts can also be different depending on if you are a government worker or private sector.

So what are the most common types of retirement accounts, and how are they treated by the divorce court?

How Are Defined Contribution Plans Divided in a Divorce?

A defined contribution plan is a type of retirement account that you put money into over the course of your employment. That money is held until retirement age or a number of specific factors are met. There are many different types of defined contribution plans including 403(b) accounts, 401(k) accounts, SEP accounts, VRS accounts and TSP accounts.

Defined contribution plans may even have a match system depending on the employer. If you put so much of your paycheck into a defined contribution plan, your employer may have a matching policy.

Once you put those funds into a defined contribution plan, they get invested by a plan administrator in various types of assets. The type of plan you have will dictate the types of investments available. Different types of defined contribution plans have different rates of return and different tax advantages.

In a divorce case, the Court will look to see how much was contributed to the plan during the marriage. The Court will then divide this “marital share” and add any gains or losses that have happened since the separation based upon the market performance. These gains and losses are only based upon the contributions made during the marriage.

How Are Defined Benefit Plans Divided in a Divorce?

Although they are becomming more rare, many different types of employers are still offering these plans. These are essentially pension plans. Depending on how long you work for your employer, you may be entitled to monthly payments after you retire.

In the private sector, union jobs are largely the only remaining fields that have defined benefit plans. Government workers may still have defined benefit plans in the form of a FERS account.

In a divorce case, Virginia judges will typically use a formula to determine how these pensions will be divided:

PRESENT VALUE X (TIME WORKED DURING MARRIAGE/TOTAL TIME WORKED)

The best way to understand how this calculation works is to contact your plan adminstrator. They can potentially calculate the monthly benefits.

How Can a Divorce Lawyer Can Protect Your Retirement?

There are two very helpful type of people to have on your side if you are planning for retirement and divorce. You should have both a CPA and a divorce lawyer walk you through the types of retirement accounts available, their tax advantages, and whether it is a good idea to diversify your retirement. Even if you are not coontemplating a divorce, make sure to contact your CPA to understand your retirement plan and how to plan for the future.