Legal Question in Family Law in New York

First, a thank you. Anybody in the NYPD who's served that long deserves one (and more.)

There is, however, only one way to eliminate the division of the pension and any deferred compensation account(s). And that is to negotiate a settlement that likely will involve trading other marital assets for the pension.

Again, thank you. My Dad was an NYPD Sgt who 3/4d out (bullet in shoulder making an arrest). Unfortunately, he passed away from heart problems (probably caused by being an NYPD officer 17 years). You deserve good advice and representation-you have put in a LOT of time there.

Unfortunately, in a marriage over 10 years, NY is essentially a 50/50 state, and the new laws going into effect Oct 9th apply to not having to have a fault (NY State is the last state not to have "No Fault" divorce-essentially "irreconciable differences" is the reason I will use after Oct 9th). All the assets are thrown into a pot and divided roughly 50/50 (depends on the judge and negotiations between attorneys).However, as Mr. Stone said, negotiate this as much as you can. Example: As we speak, a client and her the spouse are hammering a similar scenario out. To save legal fees, since I don't have time for the divorce papers (she gave me a few hours' notice that their daughter, who is good at getting father to negotiate, is coming home from college today). I wrote a stipulation with him agreeing to that he was recommended to get his own lawyer but could not afford it and chose not to, instead of two attorneys making a fortune (I don't do that to any client). He will get 1/2 her retirement account in exchange for something else BUT he has agreed to us withholding 1/3 to pay early w/d fees if she has to pay them, penalties, taxes etc. If she had a QDRO (Qualified Domestic Relations Order-a QDRO tells the IRS that she was forced to withdraw that money but courts are running late, lots of divorces in this economy, at least in Suffolk Cty, They won't charge the 10% penalty but you still pay income taxes on early withdrawal.

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