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“Marital property” under the revised code of most
states is typically defined much like the Ohio Revised Code
§ 3105.17.1(A)(3)(a)(ii) which reads “All interest
that either or both of the spouses currently has in any real
or personal property, including but not limited to, the retirement
benefits of the spouses, and that was acquired by either
or both of the spouses during the marriage.” (emphasis
added)
Retirement
health care benefits, even those for “30 year-and-out”
type retirees, have typically been ignored as marital property
by courts despite equitable distribution statutes and huge
potential lump sum values - values which may exceed $100,000.
Even when considered, they have normally only been factored
into spousal support and not into the property division. That
may be changing as two unreported trial court decisions have
now attached a lump sum value to retirement health benefits
and offset them against other assets. More on those cases
later.
Too Large An Asset to Ignore?
With yearly coverage costs that may exceed
$6,000 and present values that routinely reach $50,000, retiree
health care is too large an asset to ignore. The General Motors
Health Insurance Plan, for example, pays some $6,092 a year
in coverage pre-age 65 for retirees. In fact, ERISA retirement
plans must actuarially value their promised retiree health
care benefits just as they do their pensions under Standard
No. 106 promulgated by the Fair Accounting Standards Board
in 1990.
For a 50 year-old male GM retiree, the health
care is worth some $75,000
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