Stillings & Buchinger, LLC

insurance & benfits

medical insurance - deferred income - wisconsin retirement system

MEDICAL INSURANCE BENEFITS Often times, medical insurance benefits are provided to a family through one spouse and his or her employer. A final divorce decree (judgment of divorce) can and should provide insurance for children, but often times that insurance is not provided for a previous spouse. As well, divorce can affect insurance and investment programs, such as those provided by the University of Wisconsin.

deferred income plans

Deferred income plans provide a means by which an employee can have money taken out of his or her pay and placed into an investment account, such as a 401-K or stock option program. The money is taken out before taxes. At the time the money is withdrawn, it is taxed, hence tax on the earnings is "deferred" until some later time. Typically, a person withdraws money from such plans at retirement when his or her tax rate is much lower. Hence, the benefit of such deferred plans is to set aside money for retirement, earn money on those investments, and defer the taxes on both the current income and the future investment earnings.

Deferred income plans can be part of the divided marital property in a divorce order, but whether the plan is part of the marital property, divided and how it is divided are not straight-forward matters. If you (or your spouse) have a deferred income plan (such as the WRS discussed below), you should discuss it with your attorney right away.

Wisconsin retirement system accounts

Division of your or your spouse's Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) account is permitted, but it is not required. A Wisconsin Retirement System account can be included in a divorce settlement by court order, but it is not automatic nor required. If a court orders division of a Wisconsin Retirement System account, it must direct the Department of Employee Trust Funds to divide your account, along with your creditable service. Any such direction will include the amount (in a percentage) that is to be taken from the holder's account and placed into the previous spouse's account. The holder's WRS account is then reduced by the amount transferred to the previous spouse.

experience you can trust

Stillings & Buchinger, LLC has years of experience working with marital property settlements involving a variety of deferred compensation plans including the University of Wisconsin's Retirment System accounts. Both Attorney Gordon Stillings and Attorney Melody Buchinger have handled the division of numerous Wisconsin Retirement System accounts as a Family Court Commissioner (in Calumet County) and as a private attorney.

Note that Wisconsin Retirement System accounts are the same for people employed by the Univeristy of Wisconsin in Oshkosh, Appleton, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, or any other UW locations.

free initial consultation

If you are contemplating divorce, prepared to file for a divorce, want to pursue a collaborative divorce or divorce mediation, or if you are concerned about how your deferred compensation plan will be handled during divorce, please contact the law offices of Stillings & Buchinger for a free initial consultation.