Conferred Death Benefit Annuity Issue for Divorcing Retiree

[Guest traacker]

Not sure this is appropriate here, but I have to start somewhere to gain some knowledge quickly. Hope not breaking any customs of this forum, I have searched it by keywords and not found anything I understand.

How can I convince a judge in a Connecticut court settlement proposal for a Pre Trial Conference that my wife should have to compensate me something for a $30,000 lifetime annuity upon my death as a result of my choosing this optional retirement payout?

I retired in April 2009 and selected a retirement option which reduced my retirement income by ~ 10%, $5000 per year less than I would have gotten without this annuity option. I was 60 she was 54 at the time, the annuity is irrevocable.

The retirement pension is from the Massachusetts Teachers Retirement System and my lawyer, says that when he spoke to the judge in Connecticut where I now live and being divorced, during a session I was not able to be present for, the judge stated she did not know how to determine its value, or even if it had any value at all. Essentially saying that I gave her, my wife, a gift and I had to be crazy to have done it!

Having had a heart attack scare heart just prior to my retirement, I thought it was the right thing to do. My wife, and my daughter-(who would be going to college in 3 more years) would not have to worry if my income was lost for the family.

My attorney was proposing that I should be compensated the $5k per year, or anything for that matter, since it is she that wants the family broken up and me out. (FYI-Wife was inseminated, not married or in any relationship, because she wanted a child and insurance would pay for it. I married into the family when her daughter was 10 years old, and she was, and still is, ecstatic that she now has a dad. She actually has told me over and over again how she stopped having nightmares when I came into her life! How cool is that fellow dads!!!)

It would be great to get some kind of compensation for this now that my daughter is now a Junior and tuition is all covered for her senior year as well. Bitter sweet it would be to spend more on my daughter with this compensation from the annuity that is irrevocable.

Questions:

1- Does this annuity have any value today?

2- Does the fact that it is a State pension plan, with two different ages and death projections actually make this a problem?

3- How can I get a value, if there is any, and present it in a form a court would consider seriously?

4- The killer is that I only have a week or so to have this accomplished. (trial is Sept 9^th)

Hey folks, thanks for even reading this. Maybe someone else has already been down this road and may share that with others on this forum.

[CADMT]

1. Yes it has value - referred to as the "present value" You will need someone who values pensions in divorce to perform a valuation. The methodology is identical to how your pension would be valued.

2. No. The valuation process takes into account mortality. The fact that it's a state pension is irrelevant.

3. Have someone perform a valuation. There are many companies that do this. Cost will be several hundred dollars.

4. Not a question, so no real answer, but have your attorney get the judge to order a valuation. Your attorney should file a motion stipulating (quoting CT law) that all marital assets are subject to division in a divorce, whether equitable distribution or community property AND that any and all assets can be valued. If the survivor benefit has no value, then your ex would receive nothing, so the judge's statement is ridiculous on the face of it.

Of course, your pension is also an asset and as such can be divided. If your ex is making no claims to divide your pension, perhaps you should consider that if judge orders the survivor benefit be valued and you receive compensation, they might say the same for your pension and you may not be pleased with the result. Your were married approximately 10 years. Your probably had 30 years of service. The marital portion would be something 33%. That means 1/3 of your pension would be subject to division. Multiple your pension by 1/3 and then divide by 2. That is a close approximation of what she would receive from your pension. You would still have to value both the survivor benefit and the pension itself to determine what the total marital value is and then figure out how to divide it, but it may not be worth the effort depending how much she could receive of your actual pension.

P.S. While Social Security cannot be divided, it can be valued and then used to offset other assets that are subject to division.

[david rigby]

Your message is so rambling and lacking in punctuation, good grammar, and proper spelling that I have no idea what point(s) you are trying to make. I have no idea why you referenced Aaron Swartz, John McCain, or Granny D.

But perhaps it's just me.

There is an edit button available if you want to revise your post. Or you can ignore this if you choose.

[Guest traacker]

Your message is so rambling and lacking in punctuation, good grammar, and proper spelling that I have no idea what point(s) you are trying to make. I have no idea why you referenced Aaron Swartz, John McCain, or Granny D.

But perhaps it's just me.

There is an edit button available if you want to revise your post. Or you can ignore this if you choose.

You called it right, I deleted it so it doesn't waste anyone else's time. My bad, and my apology as well.

[Guest traacker]

I brought the information to my attorney and it shall be part of our strategy using a motion, also he is going to do something about filing a brief should we run into trouble.

Thanks for the information and the referral too, it made a HUGE difference in this man's life.