All our assets are very equally distributed except for an imbalance in Social Security benefits. We both have separate corporate retirement accounts that are equal in value but the SS benefits are about 15% larger in mine which amounts to about $50,000 difference currently with about 5 years to retirement. I think her value in SS is $250K, mine is $300K. My spouse is demanding I find a way to equalize that difference with $ from our home sale which would wipe out most of my part of the home equity when we sell the home.
Is that reasonable? I don’t know.
Division of assets and retirement
Reasonable is an incredibly vague and broad standard, so you have to decide for yourself whether or not you think something is reasonable. Additionally, even if something is reasonable, that doesn’t automatically mean you have to agree to it, as more often than not, there are multiple solutions to problems, many of which are reasonable. The question I suggest you ask yourself is whether you want to trade cash for retirement. You can divide retirement with retirement, specifically give her one-half the difference in retirement account values. You could give her cash and then keep the added benefit of the investment growth. You could do a mixture of the two. I don’t know all of your assets or debts, but it’s likely possible you could offset the disparity with taking on additional debt or less of another asset. The only limitation is your creativity and willingness to negotiate.
Thanks Cristin. I just learned that since we were married over 10 years my spouse will have access to my SS benefits anyway. If my benefit is higher than hers she will get the higher benefit. Therefore I don’t need to "pay " her for the difference in the benefits.
I was awarded part of my ex husbands retirement by a court in California during our divorce. He was eligible for full retirement in 2017. I currently live in Virginia and have since my divorce in 2010. According to my divorce paperwork California still has jurisdiction over this but neither party lives in California. What is the best way to get jurisdiction changed to VA since both parties now reside in VA? I would like to file the case here in Virginia.
You will have to check with a local Virginia attorney for the specifics on registering an out of state court order. Here in California, it’s not an overly difficult process, but since I’m not licensed to practice law in Virginia, I’m afraid I can’t give you any advice in that regard.Good luck!
I have a lawyer in VA and he said that jurisdiction is still in CA and I need to figure out how to get jurisdiction moved VA or go to CA which is not an option at this time. Is there an easy way to have jurisdiction moved to the state we both live in now?
The respondent worked on a project during the marriage. This project has yet to earn an income. During this time, he lived in the petitioner’s home and the petitioner paid for the majority of the expenses for the household and the children. Is this project considered community property? How is it valued? Thanks!
Yes, it can be considered community property; however, valuing the project is not an easy endeavor. The issue would probably have to be resolved if and when the project ever generated money.