A peaceful and enjoyable retirement is something you work toward for decades. While your divorce is likely a necessity for the sake of your continued happiness, you might understandably feel significant dismay at the idea that the split can negatively impact your well-laid retirement plans.
When you file for a Georgia divorce, it is important to consider how you will protect the assets that matter most to you. By learning more about how to navigate the topic of retirement during your divorce, you can act to preserve your long-term plans.
Understand how divorce affects retirement assets
Contributions made by either spouse to any retirement account during the course of a marriage are marital property and therefore subject to equitable division during the divorce process. While individual contributions made prior to your marriage are still solely your property, it goes without saying that a long marriage leads to a more significant division of retirement assets. Keep in mind that if you contribute significantly more than your spouse, you stand to lose a disproportionate amount of your investment in the divorce.
Negotiate asset division with your spouse
Signing a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is the most effective way to protect what matters most to you in the event of a divorce. With or without such an agreement, though, you might have to compromise on other marital assets if you wish to walk away from the divorce with a greater share of retirement assets.
Each spouse tends to have their own priorities when a divorce is inevitable. Through mediation, each party can advocate for their respective wishes and reach an agreement on which assets to compromise on for the sake of an amicable divorce.