It s important to consult with a qualified local family law attorney, so that you can receive good specific information. In most states, retirement benefits accumulated during a marriage are to be divided at the time of divorce. But government pensions can be an exception to the general rule when the government pension participant doesn t contribute to social security. A few states, including Ohio and Pennsylvania, allow a social security set-off to the overall value of the government pension when valuing the portion of the pension that was earned during the marriage. It s best to consult with a lawyer in your state to get specific information on how your state laws determine these issues.
Laws vary by state.
In Ohio, a spouse is generally entitled to fifty percent of the amount of the pension that was earned during the marriage. You should be entitled to the additional money from your pension that is earned during the years after your marriage ends. However, an Ohio court recently awarded a spouse the marital portion of the additional money in a situation like yours. The court reasoned that the right to earn extra money was not based only on the additional years worked after the marriage ended, but also on all the years of participation in the pension plan during the marriage. It s important to check with a local family lawyer for specifics about how this money will be treated under your state s laws.