The Hidden Risk in Retirement Settlements: Why Gains and Losses Can Break Your Agreement
A settlement agreement awarded a recipient spouse $175,000 from a defined contribution plan. The document was silent on gains and losses post-Date of Separation. By the time of division, their proper share had grown to $223,000. The recipient spouse lost nearly $50,000, because market growth wasn’t included in the agreement. This is not a hypothetical. […]
Free QDROs Are Coming, But Only for Firms Who Do This First
Most attorneys believe QDROs are the hardest part of dividing retirement assets in divorce. They’re not. The real challenge is in the language of the settlement itself. Why Attorneys Struggle Most lawyers were never taught how to properly divide a 401(k) or IRA. These accounts behave more like brokerage accounts than pensions, which creates […]
Retirement Clauses Are Boomeranging. Let’s Fix It Together!
Retirement division isn’t a side issue. It’s the hidden time bomb in settlements—and it keeps coming back. I recently had the privilege of presenting at the New York Judicial Seminar. It wasn’t a lecture. It was a real conversation. The dialogue was sharp, the questions were honest, and the takeaways were eye-opening. A few hours […]
Not Every Forensic Expert Should Trace a 403(b)
Your forensic expert can trace bank accounts. But that doesn’t mean they should trace the 403(b). Here’s the mistake I see from smart attorneys all the time. They bring in a “numbers person” for retirement tracing. An accountant, a business appraiser, a valuation expert. And yes, they can read a statement. They know how to […]
The Retirement Risk Hiding in Late-Life Divorce Settlements
Divorce has changed. And the most dangerous mistake in modern cases is happening on paper. More than a third of divorces today involve someone over 50. These are long-term savers, often with six-figure retirement accounts and decades of pre-marital contributions. But when it comes time to divide those assets, the legal language guiding the split […]