Las Vegas Divorce Lawyers – Are Retirement Plans Considered Community Property

The attorneys at Right Lawyers in Las Vegas specialize in helping clients resolve their divorces in the most favorable way possible. Often, the most important issue during a divorce is how to divide property and debt. In Nevada, any income and all property that the couple acquired during the marriage is community property, meaning the court will evenly divide it between the spouses.

Examples of community property include real estate, vehicles, stocks, bonds and savings accounts. As you can imagine, it often becomes difficult to determine whether an asset is community or separate property. For example, many clients ask whether or not the court will evenly divide retirement plans.

Retirement accounts encompass everything from pension plans and 401ks to individual retirement accounts and public-employee retirement accounts. The courts in Las Vegas view these plans as community property, in part. The determining factor is the overlapping period of time between the marriage and the acquirement of the asset.

For instance, if you began the account the year after you married and divorced the year after you retired, then the court would split the property equally. However, if the marriage only spanned half of the time the you contributed to the account, then your spouse would only be entitled to a quarter of the asset. In other words, the amount that is equally distributed is based on the percentage of time the marriage covers of the time spent building the asset.

During any divorce, there are many of these types of issues that are not easily resolved without an attorney, which is why it is always best to consult one if you plan to divorce.