Florida Divorce Law...

Florida Law - Can Pension Plans Be Divided?

Pension plans of either party, whether or not vested, may be divided.

The court uses one of two ways to do this. The two ways are:

• Current value. The court estimates the current value of the pension, using statistical projections. Then it awards the non-employee spouse a portion of that value in cash.
• Actual distribution. The court decides what portion of the pension the non-employee spouse should get. Then, when the pension is actually distributed, the non-employee spouse gets that portion of each payment. The fraction for dividing a pension where the benefits will be distributed when earned is: # months benefits accumulated during marriage / # months employee works until retirement.

Section 61.075(5)(a)(4).

Cases:

Robinson (1995) 652 So2d 466 (court could have deferred receipt of benefits until husband retired).

Livingston (1994) 633 So2d 1162 (share of husband's pension benefits corresponding to accrual before marriage are not marital property and may not be divided with wife; also pension benefits accruing after the marriage are not marital property; reiterates formula for dividing pension benefits where the benefits will be distributed when employee-payer retires).

Rogers (1993) 622 So2d 96 (in 33-year marriage, court should order husband to make cash payment for pension plan, not defer receipt, because wife's share should not be dependent on husband's surviving long enough to receive pension benefits; husband was 52 at the time of the divorce, three years away from the earliest retirement age; in addition, the court ordered permanent alimony for the wife, who was 51 years old and had not really worked during the marriage).

Grant (1992) 603 So2d 68 (participant need not be fully vested in order for plan to be divisible).

DeLoach (1991) 590 So2d 956 (describing the two methods; allowing the court to use either method; also describing a third, similar method, for military retirement pay).

Griffiths (1990) 563 So2d 773 (defined contribution pension plan, part of the accumulations were due to pre-marriage contributions and remained separate; the rest were due to during-marriage contributions and were marital property).

Email this page on to a friend.

Disclaimer: We are not giving legal advice. No warranties. We disclaim all legal liability. More...

Click here to go to top Florida divorce law page.

Click here for the Florida divorce legal table of contents.