How will a KTRS retirement account be divided in a Louisville divorce? Teachers have a unique retirement plan here in Kentucky known as the Teachers Retirement System or KTRS. What happens when one (or both) of the spouses is a teacher during a divorce?
Generally speaking, retirement accounts which were established or contributed to during the course of the marriage are usually marital property. Marital property is to be equitably divided in a Louisville divorce.
This is also true for 401(k) plans, IRAs, pensions, military benefits and other retirement vehicles. It is never a sound strategy to obtain legal advice from your soon-to-be former spouse. We have worked on many cases where we have been asked how will a KTRS retirement account be divided in our divorce? In many of these cases the owner of the retirement account or pension has attempted to convince our client they cannot have any portion of the retirement asset.
This is almost always simply untrue.
Our experienced Louisville divorce and family law attorneys can tell you all retirement benefits accrued during the marriage are marital property and, absent an agreement to the contrary, must be divided equally upon divorce. Any IRA account is to be divided and the defined benefits and defined contributions made by your spouse to the State Teachers Retirement System all must be equally divided in a divorce.
This is not an emotional issue. The question of how will a KTRS retirement account be divided in a Louisville divorce is a practical business issue.
You are still entitled to a division of the retirement benefits your spouse has accumulated during the years of the marriage. If the retirement benefits are properly handled, then you will either receive a distribution to be deposited into your own retirement account or be entitled to a monthly payment when you attain a certain age. The division of the plan benefits in KTRS 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 one half.
The experienced divorce and family law attorneys at Dodd & Dodd can help you preserve your rights interests. Division of retirement benefits in a divorce often has nothing to do with child custody and parenting time or Maintenance issues. Contact us or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment and get answers to questions like how will a KTRS retirement account be divided in a Louisville divorce or how is a military retirement to be handled?
