Question:
We are married in community of property, but separated and are waiting to divorce. My spouse decided to resign from his job after the divorce date was set in order to withdraw his entire pension to avoid sharing it as is deemed in the joint estate. Is there any way that I can stop my spouse from withdrawing before the divorce?
Answer:
Kate,
Unfortunately, you cannot stop your spouse from withdrawing from his retirement fund. Although the proceeds will go into his bank account, they still fall into the joint estate, and will be considered in drawing up the divorce settlement. The divorce settlement is negotiated, so if he decides to to spend all his retirement savings before then, your lawyers would have to seek compensation in another way, by giving you a bigger share of the other joint assets. But it can take a while to effect a pension payment (typically a month or more from the time the last contribution is invested), so perhaps he will not receive the money before the divorce date.
Giving up his work to access his retirement savings means that he is not only losing his current income, but also his retirement income. You should impress on him that he is biting off his nose, to spite his face, and that he will regret losing both, sooner rather than later.
