How Does Assuming Continued Employment Influence the Nonparticipants Decision Regarding Offsetting Assets?
Although most states declare that marital property includes the retirement benefits acquired “during the marriage,” its exact meaning is not clear. The literal interpretation that the court cannot look into the future is at odds with many well-known cases. Nationally, this is a highly litigated issue with substantial case law in support of both viewpoints. The following example helps clarify the different perspectives of the accrued unmatured benefit method (aka deferred vested method) and the matured full-vested method. If a 50-year-old Ohio policeman has 24 years and 11 months of service at the time of his divorce, what is the value of his pension? Consider that the participant’s accrued benefit ratchets up once he earns 25 years of service. Should the evaluator assume that the employee will earn another month of credit, and multiply his average high three-year salary by 59.83 percent (the first 20 years are multiplied by 2.5 percent and the next 4.917 years by 2.0 percent)? Or shoul
