Legal Question in Family Law in California

I would think this is a tricky question. It involves the division of a defined benefit pension plan. The first 20 years of the pension would be pre-marital asset, the last 6 years accrued would be marital. How do you divide the amount accrued during the marriage? Several raises took place, seems very complicated to figure out. Also this plan is based on years of service and the last three years average salary to calculate the benfit at retirement.

Thanks in advance!


Asked on 9/15/12, 10:48 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

California treats unvested as well as vested pensions as community property so long as the right to benefits was earned during marriage. Your particular situation involves a pension that is a mixed community separate asset. Courts apply the time rule to these, where they multiply the present value of the pension (in the case of immediate distribution) or the monthly benefits (in a wait and see distribution) by a fraction. The denominator is the total number of pension contribution years, the numerator is the total number of contribution years during the marriage.

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Answered on 9/20/12, 10:14 am


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