Working To Find A Solution To Divide Retirement Assets

As a community property state, Arizona law considers marriage a legal community in which all income, property, and other assets and debt acquired during the marriage, is owned by the community.

All such property and debt is subject to division upon divorce, including retirement assets earned throughout the years a couple is married, even if neither spouse is near retirement at the time of the couples’ divorce. To arrange a consultation to discuss your questions and concerns about division of retirement assets, contact me, an Arizona divorce lawyer, today.

Assisting With Retirement And Divorce

Division of retirement benefits can be complex because they are often commingled, meaning that the value of your benefits is partly separate property and partly community property. In many cases, individual retirement accounts are the largest assets of the community, making proper characterization of the account’s balance as separate or marital property essential to achieving an equitable divorce settlement.

Exactly how the pension or retirement account is divided is complicated and you may need an expert’s guidance. According to Arizona law, when you or your spouse has a pension or retirement benefit from a job held before and during the marriage, the contributions you each made to your pension before the marriage are separate property. The contributions made after the date of marriage and before you separated are community property. After you separate, those contributions go back to being separate property.

I can assist with characterization and division of all varieties of retirement accounts such as:

• Defined contribution plans, including IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) and 409A assets
• Pension plans

Contact Me

As a divorce attorney with an undergraduate degree in finance, years spent working with a finance company prior to earning an MBA with emphasis in finance, and a post law master’s degree in taxation, I am uniquely qualified to assist you with even the most complicated divisions of retirement assets. I will also provide hands-on assistance to each client.

Contact me immediately to learn how I can effectively resolve your concerns.