Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

In my divorce I have a 401k plan, an IRA, and a Roth IRA. My wife has a 401k plan, IRA, a ROTH IRA, AND a company pension plan. How do we put a value on the pension plan?

Also, how would this stuff get divided? Look at the value of my plans and hers, and then give the "extra" to the person who's total is less than the others, thereby bringing them up to an equal split?


Asked on 1/12/11, 3:34 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Robert Harris Harris Law Firm, pc

As with most legal questions the answer is...it depends. But, as to percentages per spouse, you'd look at things like, were you contributing the entire length of the marriage, or was there some pre marital investments, is it a defined conribution or defined benefit plan, and what other assets and income do you each have.

Basically, there is a 50-50 split in most cases. Basically, you can get a qualified domestic relatios order splitting one or more of the accounts to make them evenly, or fairly, divided. If you don't do the QDRO correctly, there may be tax consequnences. The Roth has to be closely looked at so that there are minimum tax consequences.

There is no way any competent attorney can advise you without going over all the assets and reviewing the plans. You need to think carefully whether hiring a good lawyer would be a wise investment here. I assume there may be significant assets here and would argue that hiring a lawyer in this case is a lot like buying auto insurance. Sure, you PROBABLY won't get into an accident that destroys your car and gets you sued for millions. But you buy insurance so that if the worst happens, you're covered.

Good Luck

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Answered on 1/17/11, 4:00 pm


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