Sourdough Mullet Posted 11 hours ago Posted 11 hours ago Some great information on this site, thanks to you all! I have a somewhat unique divorce situation, and need advice on how to calculate the value of a QJSA that is and was solely paid out of non-marital assets. My husband and I got married just before I retired from State of AK in March of 2019, in order to allow me to add him to my state benefits (free Health insurance, Long-Term Care Insurance and a 50% Joint Survivor Pension Option in the case of my death). I then retired 4 months later in August of 2019 and we now live in Minnesota, an Equitable Distribution State. He retired a few months after I did and has done contract work for his former employer off-and-on since. I have taken a deduction from my pension annuity for both his LTC Insurance and the QJSA of which he is the beneficiary for the past almost-7 years of my retirement. The QJSA option I elected prior to my retirement is completely irrevocable, as I sadly found out recently - my pension annuity will be reduced because of this election for the rest of my life, even after we are divorced, and even if my husband dies before I do and no one ever receives the benefit of the QJSA. It is not transferrable to a new spouse, and nothing can be changed, even through a QDRO. So that election resulted in a lifetime pension reduction for me. What angers me is that we had a (verbal) agreement at the time of marriage that he would obtain a life insurance policy on himself with me as the beneficiary as compensation for that LTC insurance and QJSA, and he did get that life insurance policy, but then he let it lapse a year or two after the marriage ("fool me once"...) I had a prenup prior to the marriage that ensures that my soon-to-be-ex and I each maintain our own pensions. I have not worked at all since the marriage, so all my assets are my own pre-marital money. We kept our finances separate throughout the marriage. My husband had three pensions that were earned before the marriage that are solely his own pre-marital assets, which he is now collecting on. However, he did work some during the marriage too, so some of his recently-earned assets are legally half mine (he has greater income than I do). He was also married previously, and his ex-wife is the beneficiary of his QJSA, so that doesn't factor in. The only assets being split in our divorce are a home, vehicles, and perhaps a small amount of his recent joint marital income. It does not seem fair to me that I will need to take a reduction in my pension for the next 30 years when I was only married to him for 4 months before I retired. When I looked into it, it sounds as if court cases in several states have considered the the QJSA to be a "valued asset" of the receiving spouse; one that can be offset by other assets in the divorce settlement, although I don't see any case law relevant to that in my own state. I'm pretty sure I can't get compensation for the value of the past (already-provided) LTC and QJSA benefits that I've paid for during the marriage, even though he reneged on the life insurance agreement. But I'd at least like to get compensation for my future losses over the next 30 years for the non-reciprocal QJSA that my ex-husband will benefit from. So finally, if you're still with me.... My Question: For settlement purposes, how do I calculate the value of my future annuity reductions due to the irrevocable QJSA? My pension annuity has already been reduced by approximately $7,000 for the LTC Insurance and approximately $12,000 for the QJSA option over the past 7 years. The LTC Insurance is revocable, so there will be no further deductions for that. However, over the next 30 years (my approx. estimated lifespan), I will incur a loss of approximately $96,000 in pension reductions for the QJSA. The annuity deduction will increase with inflation each year. I'm certainly no accountant, but I have been trying to find a calculation that could give me a reasonable estimate for a settlement offer. My best Google-guestimate (found on an A.I. search) as to how to calculate this would be: Sn = A x (1-rn) / 1-r where A= first year’s total payment ($2028) and r = annual growth rate (1.03) and n= number of years (30), so S30 = 2028 x 47.5754 = $96,583. I then attempted to calculate the present value in 2026 dollars at a 3 percent average annual inflation rate (?) (where PV = FV / (1 + r)n and PV = $96,483 / (1 + 0.03)30 = ($96,483 / 2.427262) = $39,750. I have no idea whether my calculations or assumptions are correct, and I know I need to find an actuary to help me, but I'm wondering if anyone here can give me advice, as this is a somewhat unusual situation. Am I getting warm, or am I totally off-base here? Thanks for any advice you could provide!
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now