Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Splitting retirement

A court would consider all assets and debts in making a fair and equitable distribution. This could result in one person keeping all of their pension and the other getting a portion of the other person's pension. Or it could be done as a division of the pensions and each given an interest in the other's pension. There are many other possible approaches. The range of possible solutions are too numerous to describe in a short note. Factors that may influence how much of a pension the spouse may claim include how many of the years of the pension accrual were while married. This is too complex a question to give a definitive answer to without a complete analysis of all assets and obligations (separate and community). This is why people with significant assets hire lawyers, to collect all the relevant information relating to the marital estate and separate property, so that realistic estimates of resolutions can be made.