Will my spouse get half of my retirement in Ohio?

Columbus Divorce Lawyer

Virginia Cornwell is a Columbus Ohio Family Law Attorney.

Retirement plans are often the most significant asset of a marriage, often worth even more than the couple’s house. Therefore, people are naturally worried about what is going to happen to that asset when the couple divorces.

In Ohio, all assets are presumed to be marital, and therefore subject to division, UNLESS the husband or wife shows that some of the asset is separate property. With retirement assets, an experienced family law attorney can help you show the Court what portion of the retirement was yours before marriage, which is called tracing. The attorney can then help you retain your separate property, leaving the rest of the retirement, the portion that was acquired during the marriage, subject to division in the divorce.

There are different ways to trace different kinds of accounts, and it may require the assistance of a financial expert to testify for the court to preserve your pre-marital interest in a retirement account, but it can often be done.