HB208 Summary

• Eliminates the 10-year marriage requirement for courts to award retirement benefits to a spouse in divorce proceedings.

• Expands the marital estate to include all vested and unvested retirement benefits acquired during marriage from any type of employment, including self-employment, public or private employment, and military employment.

• Permits courts to use any equitable method of valuing, dividing, and distributing retirement benefits, with the noncovered spouse limited to no more than 50 percent of the benefits considered.

• Provides that passive appreciation or depreciation of retirement benefits between the award date and distribution date is shared equally by both parties on a pro rata basis.

• Becomes effective January 1, 2018.