Ohio Divorce Law...

Ohio Law - Can Social Security Be Divided?

Social Security of one party may not be directly assigned to another party.

However, the amount of social security a party is receiving, or will be receiving, may influence the amount of alimony the court awards or the property division the court makes.

It is worth mentioning that in marriages that have lasted ten years or more, the divorced spouse is entitled to receive 50% of the former spouse's benefit.

This is in addition to, not in place of, the former spouse's own benefit. The former spouse continues to receive his or her own benefit in the full amount.

Section 3105.171.

Cases.

Smith (1993) 632 NE2d 555 (Social Security is not a marital asset and so may not be directly divided. However, it may be considered in the division of pension assets. In this case, the wife had social security benefits estimated to have a value of approximately $10,000. The husband had a state-funded retirement benefit estimated to have a value of approximately $42,000 and another deferred compensation plan worth approximately $10,000. Wife also had a SEP retirement plan, which was her separate property, worth about $7,000, and IRAs worth approximately $7,000. The lower court found that the wife's SEP was her separate property. Also, it awarded her her IRAs plus $18,500, for a total property value of about $32,000, plus her $10,000 of social security, for a total of $42,000. Her husband kept property worth about $52,000. The appeals court agreed that it was proper to consider the wife's social security in considering the amount of retirement benefits that would be available to each party. But, with respect to the $32,000, it said that the court should not have awarded that payment out of the husband's separate property, where it was unclear that he had the money, and where it could have set up a qualified domestic relations order and let the husband make the payments when his pension actually started.)

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