Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: majauskas vs. majauskas

Allow me to first present a brief review of the pertinent legal issues. In accordance with precedent New York State court decisions, in the event of divorce, retirement pension benefits, to the extent accrued during the marriage, have been held to be marital assets allocable between the spouses in equitable distribution. The allocation of the retirement benefits between the former spouses is usually done in accordance with a mathematical formula called the Majauskas formula because it was formulated by the Court of Appeals in the case, Majauskas v. Majauskas,

474 NYS 2d 699.

The Majauskas formula is formulated as a fraction, generally as described below. (Note however that the Majauskas formula can be modified from as it appears below by either the court or by agreement between the spouses in the divorce, and you would therefore have to review your divorce decree to ascertain whether the formula therein is precisely as below.)

The denominator of the Majauskas formula, i.e. the part of this fraction under the line, is total years of employment accrued at the time of retirement.

The numerator of the Majauskas formula fraction, i.e., the part of that fraction written above the line, is years of employment accrued during the marriage.

This fraction is generally multiplied by

one-half. Therefore, your former spouse's portion of your retirement benefit is one-half of your retirement benefit multiplied by the years of employment accrued towards that benefit DURING your MARRIAGE and DIVIDED by the TOTAL years of employment accrued towards that retirement benefit.

By way of example, suppose your total years of employment towards this retirement benefit was twenty years, and that you were married to your spouse for five of those years. Five divided by twenty is one-fourth (1/4) and one-half of 1/4 is 1/8.

Your spouse's portion would therefore be

one-eighth of your retirement benefit in those circumstances.

Re: majauskas vs. majauskas

Upon reviewing my first response to your query, I see that I inadvertently omitted an important detail. Please accept my apology, and with it, a precise and concise followup.

The Majauskas formula divides the time period between the date of the marriage until the commnecement of the divorce action by the number of months you will have accrued toward your pension when you retire, i.e. the denominator is the entire period during which the pension continues to accrue up until retirement.

Therefore, since the original retirement plan is still accruing, you correctly state that the Majauskas formula denominator will include your total time of employment at all positions up until the date you receive benefits from the original and only retirement benefit plan.

The term "years of service" often used to define the Majauskas denominator contemplates somebody who works an entire career at the same job until retirement in which case the entire accrual period in which the retirement benefit

is exactly the same as "years of service" at that job.