Rancho Cucamonga Retirement Assets Divorce Lawyer

You’ve worked hard your whole life. Things may not have turned out exactly as you planned, but it doesn’t mean you should lose everything you worked for because of a divorce.

At the same time, getting a divorce in California means you need to split the assets evenly, including retirement assets.

There are several ways to separate assets, but you need a Rancho Cucamonga Retirement Assets Divorce Lawyer familiar with the intricacies of retirement assets and divorce to make sure it is accomplished legally. It is crucial that you have the experience and credentials of The Law Office of Laurence J. Brock to guide you through the process.

Types of Property Considered Retirement Assets

Retirement assets are treated as other assets in a California divorce and are divided equally between the parties.

Normally, assets are used to offset the debts — debts are divided if they exceed the assets; assets are divided if they exceed the debts.

Retirement assets typically include pension plans, tax-sheltered annuities, thrift plans, and similar plans. The function of these types of plans isn’t to provide funds in the present, but for the future.

Since California is a no-fault state, the concern isn’t usually what the retirement assets are, but instead how to legally divide them, which a family law attorney like Laurence J. Brock can help with.

Determining Who Gets the Retirement Accounts

Retirement accounts are like other assets in that they are divided equally between the parties involved in the divorce. This may sound simple enough except that sometimes the assets of the couple need to be sold in order to cover the debts.

Furthermore, you may stand to lose money if you close accounts early. And, in other situations, you simply don’t have access to the funds in those accounts until you reach a certain age or wait a certain amount of time.

These details are dependent on factors such as the type of account you have and the plan’s terms when you opened the account.

When it comes to dividing retirement assets, there can be countless scenarios that you likely hadn’t planned for when you set up the accounts.

Weighing Assets and Debt in a Divorce

Sometimes the person who gets the retirement accounts is the same person who ends up with the leftover debt.

While you may be the only one who is granted access to the retirement account, you may also have to assume the community debt equal to the value of the retirement account.

These are just a small part of the complexities involved in the division of retirement assets that The Law Office of Laurence J. Brock can help you figure out.

It’s important that your debts get paid, but equally important that you don’t lose interest or retirement assets if you don’t need to.

Division of Retirement Assets in Divorce

Other than working out the debt to asset difference, there is another issue that commonly occurs when dividing retirement accounts.

This issue requires that someone like The Law Office of Laurence J. Brock file a Qualified Domestic Relations Order or QDRO.

There are retirement accounts that are set up and only allow access to the person funding the account.

For example, if you are seeking retirement funds from your spouse’s employer-sponsored pension, you’ll likely need a QDRO in order to receive the money.

The Risk of Not Having a Divorce and Family Law Attorney

It’s always best to have a lawyer to represent you whenever you are involved in any legal situation. Divorce specifically requires not just changing your future, but combing through every financial detail of your present and past. You need to separate your own debts and assets from your community debts and assets, and then try to manage those in the most painless way possible.

Without a qualified lawyer, you could end up losing assets you didn’t even know you could lose while creating more debt than you thought you had. In these situations, you need an experienced Rancho Cucamonga Retirement Assets Divorce Lawyer.

Don’t risk your future attempting to manage all that a divorce presents, by yourself.

Contact our office online or call for a free initial consultation at (909) 466-7661, as soon as possible.