You’re in an abusive relationship and finally found the courage to separate. The decision was difficult enough to make by itself. Now, your friends and family are letting you know you could have to split your pension or retirement. How much of this is true?
Generally, one has to split their pension and retirement with their ex. However, this may not be the case if your partner was abusive. Under certain circumstances a pension may not have to be split equally.
A little known and under utilized new law now helps the victims of domestic violence. The rationale for the law is that victims of domestic violence should not have to support or pay their abusers.
Under the new statute, it you have been the recent victim of a domestic violence felony, there is an bar on your ex getting one half of your pension or retirement. There are even legal protections for misdemeanor victims of domestic violence who are interested in retaining 100% of their pension.
And that’s not all, domestic violence victims are further protected under the law. You can get portions of legal costs paid from community property assets, a special date of separation rule could apply and other statutes may prevent you from paying spousal support to your abuser.
For more information about whether you really have to split your pension and retirement with your abusive ex, contact an experienced family law attorney at Kosla & De Alba today at (916) 909-1007.