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Retaining Local Counsel When Dividing Retirement Assets

By Laurence J. Cutler and Robert A. Epstein
April 28, 2012

Dividing retirement assets in equitable distribution is well known among matrimonial practitioners as one of the most confounding, and potentially complex, areas of our practice. Understanding the nuances in different types of plan benefits, valuation methodologies, survivorship components, and pension-related terminology is merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Dealing with an ERISA-qualified plan, detailed below, is difficult enough. Dealing with individual state laws and regulations that apply in effectuating property division of ERISA-qualified, non'ERISA-qualified, federal pensions, state pensions, and other types of retirement assets, can be overwhelming. Retaining local counsel in the state at issue with expertise in this area is of utmost importance in not only understanding the type of retirement asset at issue, but the specific methodology by which that asset is to be divided under state law.

Types of Plans

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