In a Maryland divorce proceeding, is transfer or distribution of retirement assets required?
A. No. The Maryland statute governing disposition of marital property gives the court discretion to transfer interests in retirement, pension, and deferred compensation plans in divorce proceedings, but does not require the court to do so. The court has much discretion in determining the best way to allocate marital assets between parties. Whether to award retirement funds is but one of its options. If the court decides to award part of a retirement plan or similar account, it has considerable flexibility in determining how and when payments will be received. However, flexibility and discretion do not equate to a mandate that every divorce litigant with a retirement account must share it with an ex-spouse. The retirement account or pension plan is often, next to the family home, a divorcing party’s largest asset, so it may become necessary for the court to consider dividing it. However, for example, where the retirement account represents only a fraction of the total marital property,
