Long Island elder law attorneys do more than just help you to plan for what could happen if you get sick or for how to provide for your family after you pass away. An elder law attorney at Mark S. Eghrari & Associates PLLC can also help you to make a comprehensive retirement plan and can assist you with the protection of your assets. 
There are many threats to your wealth and future financial security. One of the biggest possible risks that you face is the possibility that your finances will be derailed by divorce. Divorce can profoundly impact your retirement plans and can make other aspects of saving for your future more difficult.
If you are ending your marriage or if you have gotten divorced, you should talk with Long Island elder law attorneys at Mark S. Eghrari & Associates PLLC as soon as possible. Our legal team is here to provide the personalized help you need to adjust your plans and to ensure you’re taking the right steps after divorce to achieve security during your golden years.
How a Divorce can Derail Retirement Plans
When you divorce, the process of ending your marriage could be an expensive one. You may have to spend a substantial amount of money on fees and costs during the divorce process. These costs associated with the dissolution of your marriage can have an adverse impact on your finances and your ability to save for retirement. You could also be forced to give a portion of your assets to your spouse, and the court could even issue a qualified domestic relations order (QRDO) mandating that when your pension or other retirement benefits begin to pay out, part of the money that you receive goes to your ex.
All of these factors can impact your ability to save for retirement now, and can affect the money you have coming in when you are a senior. There are also other changes that could be triggered by the divorce as well. For example, while a husband or wife can usually claim Social Security benefits on a spouse’s work record, this may not be the case after divorce – depending upon the length of your marriage. If you were counting on claiming Social Security on your spouse’s record or if your retirement plans were predicated on the idea that you would have Social Security income from both you and your spouse, you may find yourself with insufficient Social Security benefits coming in.
You’ll need to make sure you are taking control over your own retirement security once you no longer have a spouse to help shoulder the burden of saving for the future. Since you want to maximize your ability to save enough money for a secure retirement, it is also a good idea to talk with Long Island elder law attorneys about whether or not your divorce has an impact on your ability to invest in an IRAs and take a tax deduction.
There are rules for IRA deductibility that result in you losing a part of your deduction if you have a household income exceeding a certain dollar amount if you or your spouse has access to a workplace retirement plan. Once you are no longer married, a change in your household income or a change in access to a workplace plan could affect whether or not you are able to take the full tax deduction for contributing to an Individual Retirement Arrangement.
Mark S. Eghrari & Associates PLLC provides help in determining what you are allowed to save for retirement in tax-advantaged accounts and we also provide advice on other ways you can protect your assets and maximize the chances you will have financial security as a senior.
Getting Help from Long Island Elder Law Attorneys
Divorce can do much more than just affect your retirement plans. When you end your marriage, you’ll need to consider the impact of the divorce on any retirement plans or end-of-life plans you have in place. You may need to change the beneficiary on life insurance policies, change your designated agent if you created a power of attorney, and make other modifications to existing plans you have created.
Mark S. Eghrari & Associates PLLC is here to help. We will assist you with all of the changes you need to make to your future plans after your marriage has come to an end. Give us a call at (631) 265-0599 or contact us online today to find out more or join us for a free seminar at any time to learn all about the services that we can offer you.
Mark S. Eghrari, Estate Planning Attorney
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