What gets divided

[mike13]

What is the name of your state? Pa.
A few question please--I know that if we are divorced, the house, cars, etc. everything with our two names on, are equally divided. How about the items that only has my name on. Such as my 401K at work ? Also, my mother has signed over her house to me about three years ago, how is that affected ? Is there alimony is Pa, will I have to support her ? We are both in our mid 50's and have been married 30 + years. Thanks for your replies.

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? Pa.
A few question please--I know that if we are divorced, the house, cars, etc. everything with our two names on, are equally divided. How about the items that only has my name on. Such as my 401K at work ? Also, my mother has signed over her house to me about three years ago, how is that affected ? Is there alimony is Pa, will I have to support her ? We are both in our mid 50's and have been married 30 + years. Thanks for your replies.

This has to do with property settlement:

All property (real, personal, mixed) will be classified one of two ways:

marital (i.e., both y'all may have some interest in it)

non-marital (i.e., only one of y'all owns all the interest in it).


For example, if your spouse has been making mortgage payments on the land your ma gave you, then your spouse may have some interest in that property.

In any event, the court makes the final decision on all this.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Pa.
A few question please--I know that if we are divorced, the house, cars, etc. everything with our two names on, are equally divided. How about the items that only has my name on. Such as my 401K at work ? Also, my mother has signed over her house to me about three years ago, how is that affected ? Is there alimony is Pa, will I have to support her ? We are both in our mid 50's and have been married 30 + years. Thanks for your replies.

Since you have been married for 30 plus years you can pretty much count on having to split your 401k with your spouse, and she would also have to split hers with you if she has one. Alimony may also be likely....particularly if she doesn't work or has a low income.

As far as the house your mother signed over to you.....Seniorjudge gave you as much info as its possible to give on that topic.

 

[nextwife]

Alimony may also be likely....particularly if she doesn't work or has a low income.

Or if you don't work or have a low income, comparative to hers, alimony may be likely from her. After all, you have 30 years into the marriage.

 

[mike13]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Concerning alimony--I have been the main wage earner (about 95%) these past thirty years and am still working. She has retired, so it appears that I would also have to support her in addition to having to split everything 50 / 50 with her. Doesn't seem fair.

 

[Bali Hai]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Concerning alimony--I have been the main wage earner (about 95%) these past thirty years and am still working. She has retired, so it appears that I would also have to support her in addition to having to split everything 50 / 50 with her. Doesn't seem fair.

Retired from what?

If you have earned 95% of the wages in a 30 year marriage, then you should resign yourself to the fact that you are 99.9% sure to pay alimony.

And it may not be a 50/50 split. The court is going to take care of her, because its view is that she cannot take care of herself.

It's alimony or a fair trade of your share of the assets.

 

[LdiJ]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Concerning alimony--I have been the main wage earner (about 95%) these past thirty years and am still working. She has retired, so it appears that I would also have to support her in addition to having to split everything 50 / 50 with her. Doesn't seem fair.

You know, I don't know which of you wants the divorce, but after 30 years of marriage a 50/50 split of all marital assets is completely and totally fair.

If she is of retirement age, and could draw her share of the 401k, without penalty, and you are also close to retirement, it may be possible to avoid alimony. However, realistically the two of you planned for retirement as a couple. Now your marriage is ending and its only fair that those retirement plans benefit both of you equally.

Of course, if you could patch up your marital discord, both of you would probably be better off. After 30 years of marriage patching things up can't be totally unrealistic.

 

[nextwife]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Concerning alimony--I have been the main wage earner (about 95%) these past thirty years and am still working. She has retired, so it appears that I would also have to support her in addition to having to split everything 50 / 50 with her. Doesn't seem fair.

Retired at only 50? I'm 50! I contribute about half the household income AND am raising our 8 year old daughter. 50's YOUNG!

 

[LdiJ]

Retired at only 50? I'm 50! I contribute about half the household income AND am raising our 8 year old daughter. 50's YOUNG!

He said 50's, not 50. He also said that she was retired so that generally would indicate that she is 59 1/2.

I agree that 50 is young...I am 48. I expect to have another 20 years, more or less, of working before retiring. However, I could work part time if I wanted too, because I have already amassed enough credits for full SS retirement...have a house that will be paid off long before I retire and have always lived below my "means".

However, if he made 95% of the income for the entire 30 years of marriage and his wife is of retirement age....its quite frankly unrealistic to expect that she could forge a career....or be able to amass any kind of retirement funds. She probably would have a hard time even earning enough credits for full SS retirement.

You remind me a bit of me about 6-10 years ago sometimes. I got "humbled" due to financial setbacks (not due to divorce, other things). As a result, I have more sympathy than you do for people who's lives suddenly change. I lost alot of the sometimes "arrogance" that I see in you.

Please don't take that in the wrong way....however, you honestly remind me of me...me before I understood that no matter how well you planned things that life could throw you serious and uncontrollable "twists".

I never made a single mistake in my working life, separation or divorce. I understood all the ramifications from day one of planning my financial life. I got caught by a totally unrelated event. However many of the people who come to this forum have never been savy enough to do what you or I might do to make sure that we are protected.

So...consider that...and perhaps consider being less "irritated" by people who didn't live life the way that you or I have....and who are now old enough that turning things around may not be so easy.

 

[Bali Hai]

He said 50's, not 50. He also said that she was retired so that generally would indicate that she is 59 1/2.

I agree that 50 is young...I am 48. I expect to have another 20 years, more or less, of working before retiring. However, I could work part time if I wanted too, because I have already amassed enough credits for full SS retirement...have a house that will be paid off long before I retire and have always lived below my "means".

However, if he made 95% of the income for the entire 30 years of marriage and his wife is of retirement age....its quite frankly unrealistic to expect that she could forge a career....or be able to amass any kind of retirement funds. She probably would have a hard time even earning enough credits for full SS retirement.

You remind me a bit of me about 6-10 years ago sometimes. I got "humbled" due to financial setbacks (not due to divorce, other things). As a result, I have more sympathy than you do for people who's lives suddenly change. I lost alot of the sometimes "arrogance" that I see in you.

Please don't take that in the wrong way....however, you honestly remind me of me...me before I understood that no matter how well you planned things that life could throw you serious and uncontrollable "twists".

I never made a single mistake in my working life, separation or divorce. I understood all the ramifications from day one of planning my financial life. I got caught by a totally unrelated event. However many of the people who come to this forum have never been savy enough to do what you or I might do to make sure that we are protected.

So...consider that...and perhaps consider being less "irritated" by people who didn't live life the way that you or I have....and who are now old enough that turning things around may not be so easy.

Very eloquently delivered LdiJ. But it boils down to WHO pays.

Boiling down to WHO is the best actor in court.

 

[LdiJ]

Very eloquently delivered LdiJ. But it boils down to WHO pays.

Boiling down to WHO is the best actor in court.

You know, when it comes to financial settlements and child support that really isn't true. They are much more cut and dried than most other areas of family law. Unless there are unusual elements to a case, you will get the same result in front of any judge, no matter who the parties are.

Of course there can be exceptions to that...but "acting" doesn't change numbers.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

What is the name of your state? Pa.
A few question please--I know that if we are divorced, the house, cars, etc. everything with our two names on, are equally divided. How about the items that only has my name on. Such as my 401K at work ? Also, my mother has signed over her house to me about three years ago, how is that affected ? Is there alimony is Pa, will I have to support her ? We are both in our mid 50's and have been married 30 + years. Thanks for your replies.

Well Mike you are working all the angles aren't you trying to maximize your inheritance at the expense of the state and your mother's creditors and to make matters worse you are planning on dumping your wife of 30 years? 5-8-2005
https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=243626

Penna. My widowed mother (74) transferred her 75,000 home to me her son in Sept. of 2002. Around July of 2003, she went to a nursing home. When she applied for medical assistance / medicade, the last question on the form was "Have you transferred or sold any items such as a home etc. within the last three years". She truthfully answered yes. Medical assistance did NOT force her to turn over the value of the house to them. We were all hoping that the stay would be temporary, so Medical assistance paid the difference between her Social Security (which I had to pay the Nursing Home) and the balance which was about another $4,000 per month. I brought mom home in February of 2004. It was a short stay however, as she wound up back in the same Nursing Home a month later in March of 2004. Again we had to apply for medical assistance, and again we answered the same questions truthfully.
Medical assistance again paid the $4000 per month difference, and again, medical assistance did not ask for the value for the house. In August of 2004, I took Mom home again for another try. (I don't give up easy). She is still at home, and functioning very well. I take her medications and food at least every other day. My question is---when did the clock start for that three year period when they can still ask for the value of the transferred house. Was it in September of 2002 or was it later ? Many thanks, Mike

3-11-2004
https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=619639#post619639

What is the name of your state? Penna.
Last April, my mother became hospitalized, and I had to get involved in her financial affairs. I found that she was in debt about $15,000. to 4 credit agencies. Since she is widowed and her only source of income was Social Security, there was no way to get out of this hole, especially being hospitalized. I asked her attorney (a cousin) if we could stop the creditors from coming after the house, ($100,000) if we transferred it to me, her son. His reply was YES. He said that she would be then "judgement proof", and there would be nothing the creditors could do. So we transferred the house over to me in the June / July 2003 time period. Mom's health continued to detereriate, and she wound up in a nursing home in July of 2003. We then applied for Medical assistance since she had no additional insurance. I told the people up front that the house was transferred over to me, (due to the creditors) and she had no other income except the $835.00 monthly Social Security check. The fact that the house was transferred to me was a minor problem, but they approved the application. Since then, I am being billed $805 per month, and Medical assistance is paying the difference. I continued to pay the expenses for the home for these last eight months, elect, water, sewer, taxes etc, because our hope was that she would be able to return home at some point. February 14, I did take her home. My plan was to get someone to sit with her a few hours each day, meals on wheels, etc. It did not work. She is back in the nursing home. Now I have major questions concerning the house. I read about a three year "look back" etc.
I thought about maybe just continuing to pay the house expenses for another 2 years and 4 months, whatever, to get out of the three year time period. But, someone has said that the three year period did not start yet, since Medical assistance was already applied for and given. If this is the case, then I might as well sell the house now and turn the proceeds over to Medical assistance. There is no reason for me to be paying the house expenses if Medical assistance is only going to force the sale of the house and take the proceeds after mom passes away. I know that I should see an attorney, but it doesn't seem like anything can be done at this point to save the house. Any and all suggestions and advice is greatly appreciated.