Social Security and IRA Division

[iwmi]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AL

My IRA is significant bigger than my ex to be.
I do not have many years to work and I’m 10 years older than her. I am self employed and my contract is subjected to yearly renewal. My job is not relative secure. At my age it is very difficult to find a new job if I lose this one. She works for a big corporation and will have the pension from that company as she retires. I want to keep my IRA accounts or the most of them myself. Not the 50/50 division of all mine and hers of IRA accounts. I wonder if work (I heard from some where and cannot remember the specific) that I keep my IRA and I offer her all my Social Security when I die. Is it doable?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AL

My IRA is significant bigger than my ex to be.
I do not have many years to work and I’m 10 years older than her. I am self employed and my contract is subjected to yearly renewal. My job is not relative secure. At my age it is very difficult to find a new job if I lose this one. She works for a big corporation and will have the pension from that company as she retires. I want to keep my IRA accounts or the most of them myself. Not the 50/50 division of all mine and hers of IRA accounts. I wonder if work (I heard from some where and cannot remember the specific) that I keep my IRA and I offer her all my Social Security when I die. Is it doable?

Social Security doesn't work that way. If you have been married for at least 10 years she would have the option to claim SS benefits against your credits (which would not effect you) if it would give her a better result than her own, but she cannot collect your SS benefits after you pass away...she can only continue to claim her own benefits or the benefits she gets based on your credits.

As far as retirement assets are concerned, if she has a vested pension from her employer that can be included in the marital asset mix to help determine the division of retirement assets.

Its also possible to trade retirement assets for other marital assets as well.

 

[iwmi]

Social Security doesn't work that way. If you have been married for at least 10 years she would have the option to claim SS benefits against your credits (which would not effect you) if it would give her a better result than her own, but she cannot collect your SS benefits after you pass away...she can only continue to claim her own benefits or the benefits she gets based on your credits.

As far as retirement assets are concerned, if she has a vested pension from her employer that can be included in the marital asset mix to help determine the division of retirement assets.

Its also possible to trade retirement assets for other marital assets as well.

We have been married more than 10 years, so for the SS benefits perspective the divorce would not affect on hers at all. correct?

 

[LdiJ]

We have been married more than 10 years, so for the SS benefits perspective the divorce would not affect on hers at all. correct?

The divorce would not effect your social security benefits OR her social security benefits. Normally if a couple stays married and one spouse's benefits are higher than the other's, if that spouse passes away the remaining spouse can get their benefits increased to a level closer to what their deceased spouse received.

However, when you are divorced that doesn't happen. You each have your own benefits and you each continue to receive those benefits independent of whatever happens to or with the other party.

 

[mistoffolees]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AL

My IRA is significant bigger than my ex to be.
I do not have many years to work and I’m 10 years older than her. I am self employed and my contract is subjected to yearly renewal. My job is not relative secure. At my age it is very difficult to find a new job if I lose this one. She works for a big corporation and will have the pension from that company as she retires. I want to keep my IRA accounts or the most of them myself. Not the 50/50 division of all mine and hers of IRA accounts. I wonder if work (I heard from some where and cannot remember the specific) that I keep my IRA and I offer her all my Social Security when I die. Is it doable?

Nope. As you were told Social Security is not a property that you have any right to transfer. (You could agree to pay her a certain amount after you receive SS, but that's a different matter)

As for the retirement accounts, you are each entitled to 1/2 of the marital value of your retirement accounts. That has nothing to do with whether you're in your 20's or 60's, nor does it have anything to do with whether your job is secure or not.

 

[nextwife]

FYI: the 50/50 split is of amounts/assets that accrued DURING the marriage, Any premarital amounts are not split. That means that the IRAS may not be split exactly 50/50.

 

[iwmi]

During the marriage my wife had worked part time paid as 1099 a few thousand dollars a year (1000 to 3000) for a few years. I have filed the joint tax return for all the years of the marriage. Now she shows me her SS statement and there were 0’s in “You Taxed Social Security Earnings” under “Your Earning Record” for those years. She claims that I did not file the tax for her part time earnings for the years and her credits had been added to my credits, therefore she give her money to my retirement in the future.
I remember I did file hers in the joint return for the years, which were over 10 years ago and I have no records of the returns kept.
I am clueless and do not know what to response to her. Could her SS credits be added to mine as she claimed?

 

[mistoffolees]

During the marriage my wife had worked part time paid as 1099 a few thousand dollars a year (1000 to 3000) for a few years. I have filed the joint tax return for all the years of the marriage. Now she shows me her SS statement and there were 0’s in “You Taxed Social Security Earnings” under “Your Earning Record” for those years. She claims that I did not file the tax for her part time earnings for the years and her credits had been added to my credits, therefore she give her money to my retirement in the future.
I remember I did file hers in the joint return for the years, which were over 10 years ago and I have no records of the returns kept.
I am clueless and do not know what to response to her. Could her SS credits be added to mine as she claimed?

How many more times do you need to be told?

You will get social security credits based on your work history.

She will get social security credits base don either her work history or yours - but it DOES NOT AFFECT YOU IN ANY WAY if she chooses to rely on your work history.

(Just in case Bali is lurking and will claim that the system is unfair, it would work the other way if SHE were the primary earner).

You can get copies of your past tax returns very inexpensively. Contact the IRS.


The IRA and/or pension are entirely different. Each of you is entitled to 1/2 of the marital portion of an IRA or pension.

If you're still not understanding it, you need an attorney.

 

[iwmi]

How many more times do you need to be told?

You will get social security credits based on your work history.

She will get social security credits base don either her work history or yours - but it DOES NOT AFFECT YOU IN ANY WAY if she chooses to rely on your work history.

(Just in case Bali is lurking and will claim that the system is unfair, it would work the other way if SHE were the primary earner).

You can get copies of your past tax returns very inexpensively. Contact the IRS.


The IRA and/or pension are entirely different. Each of you is entitled to 1/2 of the marital portion of an IRA or pension.

If you're still not understanding it, you need an attorney.

Thanks for being patient with me.
I will ask her for the specific years and the earnings and I will contact IRS for the return records. If I did miss those, I would file the Amendment for the missing incomes, pay the penalties. Hopefully those missed work credits will be shown on her SS statement.

 

[LdiJ]

Thanks for being patient with me.
I will ask her for the specific years and the earnings and I will contact IRS for the return records. If I did miss those, I would file the Amendment for the missing incomes, pay the penalties. Hopefully those missed work credits will be shown on her SS statement.

To be honest, its more likely that you DID file the income on your returns, but that she had expenses that outweighed the income, OR, you made an error and accidentally assigned the income to you rather than to her. If its the former, she still will not have any social security credits for that year. If its the latter, it can be fixed without incurring any penalty.