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 […]
What Most Lawyers Get Wrong About Cross-Border Divorce and U.S. Retirement Accounts
We’ve seen a dramatic rise in cases involving U.S. retirement accounts caught in the middle of international divorces, both from U.S.-based attorneys and their counterparts abroad. And here’s the truth: Most lawyers get it wrong. There’s no standard process. No universal playbook. And unfortunately, mistakes are common. You can’t just submit a foreign divorce judgment […]
Why Your Settlement Language Keeps Getting Rejected and How to Fix It
We’ve all seen it: what looks like a “clean” retirement clause comes back rejected by the plan administrator. You’re not alone and you’re not doing anything wrong. You’re just using language that used to work. Let’s take a look: Bad Settlement Language (Real Example): “Alex Bretley gets 50% of Alyson Bretley’s Fidelity IRA as of […]