Question: My husband works for the government and, instead of Social Security, he will receive a pension at retirement. I have never worked outside the home and have raised our three children, so I have built up no Social Security and have no pension. I never thought about this until now, at 54, when he left me. His lawyer says that because my husband’s pension is a replacement for Social Security, it isn’t marital property and can’t be divided when we divorce. We have a house and little else. I am very nervous. How can I be expected to support myself under these conditions at my age?

Answer: While it is correct that Social Security cannot be divided as a property interest at divorce, most private pensions are contractual agreements between the employer and employee. As such, so long as the contributions to your husband’s pension plan were made while you were married, the majority of states have found these plans to be marital property interests that are divisible at divorce. For this reason, you should seek out a qualified divorce lawyer who can navigate you through this complicated area.

For these and other reasons, it is always a good idea for all married people to learn about their spouses’ pension plans and to participate in the financial planning and retirement processes with their spouses.

Question: After we divorced, our 16-year-old daughter moved out of my ex-wife’s home and began living with her 19-year-old boyfriend and his roommate, and then with her boyfriend’s parents. She stopped going to school for nearly three months and finally went back to my ex after she became pregnant.

Meanwhile, I have remained under a court order to support my daughter, which I don’t feel I should be required to continue do under the circumstances, especially since my ex and my daughter have chastised and cursed me for questioning my daughter’s morals and my ex-wife’s lack of supervision.

My ex and her new husband have been providing for our daughter financially. My lawyer tells me he thinks I should be able to cut off her support if we go back to court. “Think” means, in lawyer talk, lots of money. Do any of your readers have this kind of problem, and can you give me any information that will help me make a decision?

Answer: Aside from the legal ramifications of your situation, there are moral considerations. While we won’t address the moral issues of trying to cut off the support of a 16-year-old child in need, depending on where you live, you might not have an easy time legally.

It does not appear to us that your daughter could be found to be “emancipated” – or self-sufficient – by a court based on the facts as you describe them. She ran away from home and lived like a vagabond for several months, but she is not able to support herself and, now, more than ever, needs financial and spiritual assistance from her parents.

SoloFact: At divorce, all or part of one spouse’s IRA can be transferred to the other spouse’s IRA if required by court order or agreement. If accomplished properly, the transfer is not treated as a taxable distribution to either the original IRA owner or the spouse to whom the transfer is made. These arrangements should be made in advance with the financial institution that holds the IRA’s in order to avoid misunderstandings.