Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Divorce

How is a pension divided in a Florida divorce? It may seem difficult to divide a pension when a spouse is not yet retired, and therefore the amount to which the spouse is entitled is not yet known. However there are generally two methods in Florida for distributing a future pension benefit in a Florida divorce: “The first is to order an ‘immediate offset,’ in which the court distributes the portion of the pension's present value that was earned during the marriage. [internal citation omitted]. This marital interest is calculated by multiplying the present value of the pension by a ‘coverture fraction’ in which the denominator is the total time the employee has participated in the retirement plan and the numerator is the time the employee has been married during that participation. Id. [. . .] The other, simpler option is a ‘deferred distribution.’ Under this approach, the court must have evidence of the amount of the employee's benefit assuming ‘he retired on the date of the final hearing without any early retirement penalty.’ Id. ‘The court then multiplies this dollar amount by the percentage to which the other spouse is entitled.’ Id. This results in a fixed dollar amount that is to be deducted and paid to the other spouse each time the pension holder receives a pension benefit.” Pension valuation and distribution was discussed in the case Cancel v. Cancel, 2D2023-0471 (Fla. 2d DCA December 18, 2024).