Your retirement savings helps ensure your comfort as you grow older. You and your spouse may have put money aside out of every paycheck to help fund your retirement. Now that your marriage is on the cusp of ending, you may worry about what will happen to that money and your retirement plans.
You probably have not set enough aside to fully fund two separate retirements. If the retirement account is in your name, will you be able to protect your savings from claims by your ex in a New Hampshire divorce?
Retirement savings are often a marital property
Although an account or asset may be in only one spouse’s name, it could still be marital property that is subject to division under New Hampshire’s family code. The date of acquisition is the main deciding factor in whether you may need to divide your retirement savings in your divorce.
Unless you have a marital agreement that set aside the retirement account as separate property, whatever amount you added to the account during your marriage is vulnerable to claims by your spouse in a divorce. You may have to divide the account or give your spouse other valuable property based on the value of your retirement funds.
Some of the account’s value could be your separate property, including whatever you contributed before your marriage. You will likely need to go over your financial records carefully to determine how much you have to share with your ex and how much you can protect from division.
Learning more about the rules that apply in New Hampshire divorces can help you plan for a better future. Experienced legal guidance can help.
