When dividing up the marital assets during a divorce, most couples focus on high-value items like the house and car, as well as mementos and family heirlooms. However, your retirement savings can also be subject to division, which could have a major impact on your entire financial future. Having a divorce lawyer explain your rights and negotiate on your behalf will help ensure you get everything you’re entitled to. Below, learn how retirement savings can be divided during a martial separation and how a divorce lawyer can help. 

How Should You Determine Marital & Separate Assets?

Whether a retirement account is subject to division depends primarily on when the money was saved. Generally, any retirement investments made before the marriage are considered separate property, while anything saved by either spouse is subject to division. This includes 401(k) and IRA accounts, the value of a pension, and even Social Security benefits.

How Do You Divide Private Retirement Accounts?

IRAs and 401(k) accounts have stiff penalties for early withdrawals, which can complicate the distribution of the assets in a divorce. Depending on the circumstances, your divorce lawyer may recommend letting one spouse have the entire retirement fund or pension in exchange for other assets of equal value. You may also choose to receive a percentage of the distribution when the primary account holder retires.

What Does the Division of Social Security Benefits Entail?

If the marriage lasted longer than ten years, one spouse might be entitled to a portion of their former partner’s Social Security benefits, even if they remarry. However, this right is limited to those who are 62 and over with less work history than their former spouse and who has not remarried.

Dividing assets can be one of the most stressful parts of ending a marriage, but a skilled divorce lawyer from The Law Office of Gregory G. St. John, LLC in Waterbury, CT, can help. For nearly 20 years, this office has helped clients throughout Connecticut’s New Haven and Litchfield counties by ensuring that they get everything they’re entitled to. Visit their website to see how they can help and follow their Facebook for more legal insight. Call (203) 759-0240 to speak with an experienced lawyer today.