130 DIVorCe wItH DeCenCY
dear, you take the whole house instead of just half, but I’ll keep
my retirement.”
Hey, I thought that was my pension! Many of my clients are
shocked to find that the retirement they have been earning all
along is going to be a divisible marital asset at the time of the
divorce. Men in particular tend to take this issue rather per-
sonally. They say, “Wait a second, that was my job all along!
Why should I have to give up half my retirement?” The divorce
lawyer has the unpleasant task of explaining that retirement
is indeed divisible on basically the same half-half basis as any
other asset.
The theoretical justification behind retirement benefits being
divisible is that if these amounts weren’t being regularly deducted
out of the employee’s check for deposit into a retirement account,
they would otherwise be a part of the regular paycheck, brought
home and deposited into the parties’ joint bank account. Thus this
money would still be around, at least theoretically, to be divisible
at the time of divorce. Personally, I have yet to see this explana-
tion prove particularly comforting to many of my clients who
are furious at having their military or other retirement funds be
divisible. The fact remains, however, that virtually all states now
regularly divide retirement benefits at divorce.
Retirement rights aren’t just a guy thing. In this context, it is
important to note that both government social security and pri-
vate pension systems historically have benefited male workers.
For example, retired women workers receive only about 76¢ for
every dollar that men receive in social security. Likewise, in the
private business sector, men generally have the larger and better-
funded pension interests. Thus it becomes particularly important
for women to make sure they get their fair share. Useful reading
on this subject includes “Your Pension Rights at Divorce, What
Women Should Know” (available from the Pension Rights Cen-
ter, 918 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006), and also a free
guide published by the American Association of Retired Persons
(AARP) titled “A Woman’s Guide to Pension Rights” (available
from Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20005; telephone 202/326-4000).