2. What do people need to know about Social Security after divorce? If you are married for more than 10 years and then divorced, you can get your spouse’s same Social Security benefit without diminishing what the spouse also gets. Sometimes people who are close to ten years of marriage deliberately delay their divorce just to get past the ten-year mark.
3. What should people remember about the taxes on retirement accounts? Even if you retired tomorrow, if you contributed to your retirement accounts with pretax money, you will owe tax when you withdraw it, so the spendable cash you have is not equal to the balance on the monthly statement. When you’re splitting retirement account money 50/50, there’s no issue, as the taxes will affect each of you equally. The problem arises when the split is unequal. Then, in fairness, you have to figure out what the shares would net you if you retired today.
4. Is it wise to raise more money in our monthly budget by scaling back our retirement contributions? You have to do what you have to do, but I’d scale back retirement as a last resort. You need to think both short-term and long-term for your divorce agreement to have lasting effect.
5. Are the funds that my spouse or I accumulated before we met and married subject to division in our divorce? If your marriage is over ten years, then yes, for sure. If not, then it may or may not be, depending on other factors. The standard in Oregon is just and proper division of property, otherwise known as equitable distribution. Normally, premarital assets aren’t touched in shorter-term marriages, but they can be tapped if that’s what it takes for both spouses to be self-sufficient after the divorce.
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