Retirement accounts and Divorce

Got a good question maybe someone can help me with. If you had a Roth IRA account before you got married with about $35,000 in it and you marry and then get divorced. Can she get any of this money?

She may be entitled to half of its GROWTH (contributions and interest/dividends/etc) during the years of the marriage -- not half of the whole shebang.

By the same token, you are entitled to half of her IRA/401k -- the growth during the marriage, that is. Quite often, you can use the threat of taking half of HER money, to secure your money -- that is, if the sums are roughly equal, everyone walks away with their own.

You should consult with your lawyer on this point. Depending on the length of the marriage, the amount the IRA has grown during the marriage can be substantial. Remember, property settlement in divorce is all about negotiations. If you truly think you can't get out of this without losing a chunk of your IRA, then you could give her a greater share of the house (for example).

Yah! Puck has a good idea. Your investment before your wedding is entitled under your own name, and any improvements or interests gained during marriage life is for both of you already. Same status with your wife; any property he had before marriage, she can claim that after divorce.

But still the best thing is to refer to a lawyer for a sure decision.

Good topic. Thanks.

As Puck noted, it's all negotiable. I kept ALL of the investments in my name, in lieu of getting child support from my Ex. I knew I'd never see a dime from him so I decided not to give up real dollars during the divorce in retirn for his promises- I knew what they were worth.

The key is negotiating a property settlement with the ex-spouse that the 2 of you can live with rather than going to court and leaving it to a judge to decide. The issues I had with me Ex were so bad I had a Restraining Order against him, but we were still able to sit down with our lawyers and agree on a property settlement, for which I'm grateful.

So what you are all saying is that what I have contributed to Roth IRA before marriage which is $35,000 she will not be able to get? What about the house? It is just in my name only too?

benryanv- part of the answer on the house depends on whether you're in a Community Property State or the other kind (Equitable Settlement?). In general, I don't think you can claim that she has no right to the house because it's in your name. If you put down $100K as a down payment from funds you had before the marriage, you might have a case. But you really need to talk to a lawyer (I'm not one). As I noted earlier, a lot can depend on what the 2 of you agree on. If you take it to the court and it looks like neither side took gross advantage of the other and no one is hiding assets, they'll bless it and give you a decree.

um, hate to be bearer of bad news here ... but she (or he) can get everything you own from before or subsequent to the marriage. our legal system sucks and all you need is a knothead judge (did you see the hearings about anna nichole?). so, i agree with trying to settle and you might as well pony up the cost of an attorney unless your soon-to-be ex is overly stupid.

1MO

4 steps: Cash out everything, max out your credit cards, head south of the border, and change your name to "Jefe" or El Guapo."