Back to the community

Please readThis is a community space for sharing personal experience — it is not legal advice, and posts here are not from Lawma or your attorney. We strongly encourage you to post under an anonymous handle, keep questions general, and avoid posting private details of your active case. For advice about your own situation, message your attorney.

PropertyRetirement

His pension was mostly earned BEFORE we married. How is it split?

CAj_ramos1 month ago

He had 15 years in the pension before we got married. We were married 8 years. Surely I don't get half of all 23 years?

1 reply

✓ Verified answer from a licensed attorney — shown first

Grace Mensah avatarGrace MensahVerified Attorney1 month ago

Right — you'd get half of the community-portion only. Standard 'time rule' in CA: the community share is (months of marriage during pension accrual) ÷ (total months of pension accrual). With 8 years married out of 23 years, the community fraction is roughly 35%. Half of that 35% is your share — about 17.5% of the eventual benefit. The QDRO captures this exact language. The math gets more complex for defined-contribution plans (401(k)) because you trace specific contributions during marriage, not a time fraction.

More conversations about this topic

What actually counts as the 'date of separation'?

1 week ago1 reply

What's a QDRO and do I need one?

1 week ago1 reply

Buying out my spouse's share of the house — how do I price it?

1 week ago1 reply

Whose credit card debt is whose in divorce?

5 days ago1 reply

Add your reply

Share what helped you. Be kind — and remember this is your experience, not legal advice.

Share what you’re going through — your name stays private. Drafts saved as you type Alerts when someone replies Same handle every visitCreate a free account →Already have one? Sign in.Posts show under a community handle (e.g. member-3f8a21 by default, or pick your own). Your real name is never shown to other members.Are you a lawyer? Apply to be verified — verified lawyers post under their name + firm, and show up in the directory.

Plain text is fine. You can also make text **bold** or *italic*, start a line with “- ” for a list or “> ” to quote someone, or add a link like [name](https://example.com). Tap Preview to see how it will look.

Please readThis is a community space for sharing personal experience — it is not legal advice, and posts here are not from Lawma or your attorney. We strongly encourage you to post under an anonymous handle, keep questions general, and avoid posting private details of your active case. For advice about your own situation, message your attorney.