A 2023 Pew Research Center report found that in nearly one-third of marriages, both spouses earn the same amount of money, and women are the primary breadwinner in 16 % of marriages, up from 5 % in 1972.

Also, women in the U. S. are expected to control much of the $ 30 trillion in financial assets that baby boomers will possess by the end of the decade, according to McKinsey & Co.

That means women, in many cases, stand to be the ones losing assets in divorce proceedings. As it stands now, about 40 % of first-time marriages end in divorce, and the rates are much higher for second and third marriages, according to the Institute for Family Studies.

Denise Appleby, CEO of her own namesake retirement consulting firm, said clients usually list their retirement savings and their home as the largest divisible assets they own. So if the time comes when a client must give up half of her retirement assets, it’ s important that it’ s done the right way so that she does not face negative tax consequences, said Appleby, who spoke at Financial Advisor magazine’ s 11th annual Invest in Women conference( held in Boston in April).

Appleby said it’ s important to examine divorce decrees or legal separation agreements to ensure that the language is accurate and references a divorcing client’ s IRAs, identifies the receiving spouse and indicates the percentage or dollar amount of funds that will be transferred to him. She said transferring the assets, not rolling them over or taking a distribution, is crucial.

For the transfer to take place, Appleby said a woman would have her husband set up a separate IRA for himself. The money then gets transferred to his IRA so that the amount she gives up does not get included in her income. That makes him liable for the taxes on the amount he receives.

Appleby said that a rollover or distribution, by contrast, would cause an IRS 1099-R to be issued and the female account holder would be responsible for 100 % of the taxes generated.“ That’ s one of the things you have to know about IRA custodians. Everything you do, unless it’ s a transfer, they are going to tell the IRS,” Appleby said.

In the case of a 401( k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plans, Appleby said the legally required document is a qualified domestic relations order.“ The good thing with a qualified domestic relations order on the side of the spouse that’ s receiving the assets is that even if it’ s taxable, it’ s not subject to the 10 % early distribution penalty,” Appleby said. She said what you want to do is keep those assets in the employer plan instead of rolling them into an IRA and take distributions from the employer plan where the 10 % early distribution penalty would not apply.

There are specific requirements for removing an ex-spouse as a beneficiary from a retirement account, Appleby said.

She recommends using IRA custodian beneficiary designation forms to ensure that the change request is done correctly.

She cited a case in which a husband who divorced his wife sent in a letter by fax to the IRA administrator, requesting that the ex-wife be removed from the 401( k). But the request was never acted upon and the wife inherited his 401( k) after he died.

“ They are getting millions of [ documents ] in each day. They are not calling you, they are not calling anybody,” she said.“ Getting it wrong means that the retirement account might go to someone that they no longer love.

“ When we have female clients who have to give up half, we make sure that we get the right paperwork. I don’ t know about you, but if I get a divorce and I have to give him half, I don’ t want him to be the beneficiary of my retirement account anymore. You get half, take it and go,” she said.

— Jacqueline Sergeant

MAY / JUNE 2026 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 9