Assets

[NJDad2019]

What is the name of your state?NJ
Once the divorce is official, are assets still frozen until the splitting process is completed? E.G. Assets from an IRA account is split 50/50 (premarital to date of complaint). Can I take partial of half of my share, which I am the sole owner of the account while in process of splitting assets?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state?NJ
Once the divorce is official, are assets still frozen until the splitting process is completed? E.G. Assets from an IRA account is split 50/50 (premarital to date of complaint). Can I take partial of half of my share, which I am the sole owner of the account while in process of splitting assets?

Probably not if the paperwork specifically says 50/50. If the paperwork specifies a dollar amount that goes to the other party, then you probably can. Let me give you an example of what I am talking about:

Lets say you have 100k in and IRA and the paperwork says 50/50. If you take out 25k now then there will be only 75k in the account when the retirement company receives the paperwork, so the retirement company will divide that 75k by 50% and give the other party 37,500 instead of the 50,000 expected and you will get seriously spanked by the judge.

However, if the paperwork says that the other party gets 50,000 instead of 50%, then as long as there is still 50k in the account, the other party will get what they are entitled to get.

 

[NJDad2019]

Thanks! The QDRO company suggested to do a QDRO which they will split the amount based on date of marriage and date of complaint. They offered to do an offset which means my ex will have to transfer the offset to me and I do not. Will this still be an issue if I take partial?

 

[LdiJ]

Thanks! The QDRO company suggested to do a QDRO which they will split the amount based on date of marriage and date of complaint. They offered to do an offset which means my ex will have to transfer the offset to me and I do not. Will this still be an issue if I take partial?

I do not quite understand what you are saying here. Can you be a little clearer?

 

[NJDad2019]

My apologies. the value of my assets is much less than her; which means, if we do an offset of both assets, she will owe me. Let's say my IRA value is 100k as date of complaint, which the agreement is to split it 50/50. If we do not do an offset, and the other side wants to split each account 50/50, will this affect if I take 10K out of the 100k now? The bottom line is, if i have enough funds in my IRA, after taking the 10k, to cover the 50% based on the value of date of complaint, will it still be an issue?

 

[LdiJ]

My apologies. the value of my assets is much less than her; which means, if we do an offset of both assets, she will owe me. Let's say my IRA value is 100k as date of complaint, which the agreement is to split it 50/50. If we do not do an offset, and the other side wants to split each account 50/50, will this affect if I take 10K out of the 100k now? The bottom line is, if i have enough funds in my IRA, after taking the 10k, to cover the 50% based on the value of date of complaint, will it still be an issue?

Ok, so what you are saying is (for example) that she has 200k in her account and you have 100k in your account. So instead of you giving her 50k and her giving you 100k, that she is going to be giving you 50k? Is that correct? If so, if you take 10k out of your account its not going to impact anything unless you try to claim that your account only had 90k in it when the calculations are done. As long as the QDRO company is basing the calculations on your account having 100k in it, then all would be good. Otherwise, don't do it.

 

[NJDad2019]

Correct! The only issue is they have not agreed to an offset. Even, if they want to split each account 50/50 based on value from pre-marital to date of complaint, I still have enough assets to cover it the 50/50 if I take the 10k now. Thank you so much!! Have a great day!!

 

[FlyingRon]

Note that if you are not of retirement age and are trying to use the divorce settlement to raid your IRA without penalty, you'll have to wait for the QDRO.

 

[NJDad2019]

Thanks!

 

[LdiJ]

Correct! The only issue is they have not agreed to an offset. Even, if they want to split each account 50/50 based on value from pre-marital to date of complaint, I still have enough assets to cover it the 50/50 if I take the 10k now. Thank you so much!! Have a great day!!

Again though, you want to make sure that the paperwork uses fixed dollar amounts rather than percentages. Otherwise it WILL cause a problem.

 

[NJDad2019]

Even if the split is based on the date of complaint? Doesn't the retirement company split the 50/50 based on the statement of date of complaint? That's where I am confused on how my current value affects this split.

 

[Zigner]

Even if the split is based on the date of complaint? Doesn't the retirement company split the 50/50 based on the statement of date of complaint? That's where I am confused on how my current value affects this split.

A specific number is very clear and leaves no room for argument.

 

[NJDad2019]

to elaborate, as of date of complaint I have 100k. Currently, the value of my IRA is 115K. Let's say QDRO said you need to split based on the date of complaint which 100k (50K send to her) and I already took out 10k which leaves me 105k. There should still enough to send her 50k even if it is by percentage? Won't the IRA manager split based on 100k, not current 115k?

 

[NJDad2019]

A specific number is very clear and leaves no room for argument.

The issue is the other party agreeing to do it by number..

 

[Zigner]

The issue is the other party agreeing to do it by number..

Then you'll have to negotiate.