How is a KTRS retirement account divided in a Louisville divorce? The Kentucky Teachers Retirement System (KTRS) provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits for Kentucky teachers and their spouses and children. KTRS manages pension funds for school districts, community colleges and universities..
As Louisville divorce attorneys with decades of experience we can tell you all retirement benefits accrued during the marriage are marital property and, absent an agreement to the contrary, eligible to be divided upon divorce. Therefore, a KTRS retirement account may be divided and the defined benefits and defined contributions made by one of the spouses from the date of the marriage to the date of separation qualify for division analysis.
This is not an emotional issue; it is a practical marital property issue. While the pay out of the actual benefits is not available for years, spouses of a KTRS member who have retirement assets of their own are still entitled to consideration for a division of the benefits accumulated during the years of the marriage.
How is a KTRS retirement account divided in a divorce? These pension funds are controlled by both the Family Code and the Education Code and technical requirements must be met or you risk losing the entitlements and your half of the pension. There are two things which usually happen when a KTRS retirement account is part of a divorce:
- If the spouse without the KTRS account does not have any retirement accounts of their own the KTRS is protected under Kentucky law and may not be divided as part of the marital property division process. If the non-KTRS spouse has any retirement account at all it is presumed retirement assets will be equally apportioned.
- Like most Qualified Domestic Retirement Orders (QDROs) this option basically divides the account equally and creates a new account for the spouse of the account holder. This new account provides full access to KTRS as if the new account holder was a member of KTRS.
If the retirement benefits are properly handled a spouse will be entitled to a retirement monthly payment when they attain a specific age.
The Divorce and family law attorneys at Dodd & Dodd can help you preserve your rights and work to ensure an equal division of marital property under the law. Division of retirement benefits in a divorce is entirely separate and does not have any relationship to custody, parenting time or child support issues. If you have specific concerns we invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and contact us or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced divorce and family law attorneys.
Based in Louisville, we handle KTRS divorce cases throughout Jefferson County.
