Also, understand that this process is not always a standardized process. Only trust experienced and trained professionals. Unfortunately, the victims of mistaken advice or poor judgment may never know what should or could have been. Contingencies should be considered on the issue of method of distribution, perhaps, but not on the determination of classification. The difficulty in dividing future benefits is aided by the use of elastic, equitable approaches.
Most courts use one of two techniques.
The present cash value method is preferable if the employee-spouse s retirement benefits can be accurately valued, if retirement is likely to occur in the near future, and if the marital estate includes sufficient assets to offset the award. One advantage to the deferred distribution method is that it allows an equitable division without requiring present payment for a benefit not yet realized and potentially never obtained. Another advantage to the approach is that it equally apportions any risk of forfeiture. While a disadvantage may be that the approach requires a trial court to retain jurisdiction to oversee the payment, the entry of an order awarding a certain percentage of the benefits at the time of payment should lessen the administrative burden of the court. Fifty percent of the potential benefit would be marital property.