Dividing retirement plansYour pension, vested or not, is a community property asset if it was derived from employment while you were married. 1. In a 401(k)-like plan, the amount of contributions made between the marriage and separation, and any earnings, plus earnings after the separation and before trial, will be community property. 2. With a typical pension plan, the non-employee spouse can elect to get a portion of the benefits when their ex-spouse retires. Or they can choose to get the money now and receive the present value of half the community interest in the plan.
The amount attributable to community property is the proportion of the time married to the total employment multiplied by the benefits payable.
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