I'm a little confused. So you don't have an attorney? I wasn't sure from the posts. My case was really simple but I still used an attorney. It just helped so much. I knew the rules, the laws, and knew things were going as they should. Even if you aren't finally regarding the domestic abuse, I would use an attorney and a tax person so you go about everything in the smartest way possible. It will save you money in the end, in my opinion. It did for me!
Regarding the 401K, etc. My attorney gave me a spreadsheet. Basically it allowed me to input all our assets and all our liabilities, including retirement savings and house, and then come up with an equalizer (how much who owed who) to make things fair. It made things really simple. Certainly retirements acquired during a marriage (in my state) are considered part of marital assests. Had I wished, I could have used some of my retirment savings to pay out my H (I owed him money at the end of the D since I kept the home) but I determined to use other funds. How you divide things is up to you, but in the end, the equalizer tells you how much you need to come up with in one way shape or another to get things paid out fairly.
Last edited by galing; 03/01/0807:32 PM.
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. -Marcus Aurelius
