Pension Entitlement - HELP

[FreedomFinally]

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently going through a seperation, 7 years common law and have 2 beautiful kids. We are represented by lawyers, as my soon to be ex is extremely cheap and didn't even want to do mediation, so we are going back and forth with proposals to work out the details. It has already been decided that the kids will be with me (every 2nd weekend with him). The home we currently live in is his and we purchased an additional home in both of our names next door that has been in renovations for the last 4 years as he is too cheap to pay for professional help, he is trying to do the work himself. He is also a self admitted alcoholic, although he probably won't admit it in court.
When we got to the part of splitting the home that is in both of our names(what I thought was a fair deal) he has totally low balled me and wants me to settle, as he wants to retain the property, and then he won't go after me for spousal support or my pension.
Spousal support is a joke as he is self sufficient, although I make twice as much as he does, but he owns 2 houses outright, not including the one that is in both of our names. He rents out one house, although he doesn't claim it, and only rents to his buddies for cash to not leave a paper trail. I'm pretty sure spousal support is not going to happen but I can't find anything about penison splitting.

1. Does he have the right to go after my pension?

2. If he does have the right, am I expected to cash him out now, or he waits until I retire, in 18 years ?

3. Can I force the sale of the house in both of our names to get a fair market value, reserving the right that he can outbid the potential buyer?

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated...

[dadtotheend]

Yes, he is entitled to participate in the growth of your pension while you were together (but not what you earned prior to cohabitation so this amount might well be quite a bit less than you think) and the amount will be rolled into the equalization payment, which will include the properties you have.

The equalization payment is payable at one time, usually a few months after you settle the amount. Trust me, you dont want to stretch out the time you are tied financially to him. Its best to be done with it

You should get an independant professional appraisal (not real estate agents opinions) on both properties to assess the value. If you still cant agree, its conceivable that a judge might order the sale of the properties but that will take many months of court bs to resolve.

Dont be too quick to dismiss spousal support. If thinks get nasty he might well go after it, and the alcohol dependency could potentially help his cause as he could claim that it will be months or years before he can get back on his feet.

If you think spousal support is a joke, check the endless cases of non-custodial parents paying spousal support indefinitely to custodial parents who refuse to work even though they are perfectly able lest it stop the gravy train from flowing. There are lively debates in this forum about it and you will get a taste of the bad feelings people have about spousal support after only an hour of reading them.

[FreedomFinally]

Hi,

Thanks for your response but I think I need to clarify something. When I said Spousal Support was a joke, what I meant is that he would have a hard time getting it...as he is employed (fulltime since he was 18 and now 44), has 2 properties in his name, mortgage free and is trying to lowball me so he can have the 3rd property at a lesser than fair rate.
I agree that Spousal Support is important in many cases and it is an entitlement to many, but how do you justify being self sufficient and then deciding your not? If he does admit to his alcohol dependencies, would that not be grounds for me to get full custody of the children?

[Sheeba]

You haven't mentioned your employer. If it is the Federal government then it is all spelled out in the Pension Benefits Division Act. Nothing says you are obliged to pay him cash for a pension division it should be calculated as part of the net family division. One way to protect yourself is to establish the net family division of property. If you add up his assets and debts and then add up your assets and debts then divide in half you may discover that he owes you more in equalization payment than you owe him from your pension. See section 14 of the Family Law Act. You could choose to use this as a bargaining chip to retain your pension. Your lawyer will inform you as to all the assets he must include and prepare the complicated calculations. Even air miles points, accumulated vacation days etc should be included.

[Banaschar]

"If he does admit to his alcohol dependencies, would that not be grounds for me to get full custody of the children?"

In my case this fact was completely ignored.
As for my pension, the asset was built during the marriage and so she got half. I had to request an annuation statement from my employer(Federal Gov) and then she did her thing and got half the value. No money left my hands.
I hope that helps and wish you well.