If both spouses have their own IRAs, do they still need to be valued and divided?

Typically, and in Virginia especially, all marital assets are looked at regardless of whose name they are in. If the wife has an IRA of $20,000 and the husband has an IRA of $10,000, our courts will generally, and people also generally agree to, equalize them so that they each end up with $15,000, which would require a rollover from the wife to the husband of $5,000 in the IRA. Typically yes, there are all marital assets.

Carolyn Grimes is a family lawyer at the law firm of Wade Grimes Friedman Sutter & Leischner PLLC in Alexandria, Virginia. To learn more about Grimes and her firm, visit www.oldtownlawyers.com.