Retirement Benefits are often one of the largest assets in a marriage.  That makes them particularly important to consider in a divorce. We've previously covered the  5 Things you Should Include in a Divorce Agreement when Dividing Retirement Accounts , but we barely scratched the surface when it comes to the different options you might see in more complicated retirement plans.  It is always essential to review the Summary Plan of any retirement account to ensure that you (or your attorney) understand all the benefits and limitations that surround that plan, before trying to divide it.  When the plan is a defined benefit plan, one of the most important and often misunderstood details is how to divide the survivor benefit. A defined benefit plan, also typically referred to as a pension, is a plan that has a defined amount that will pay out (usually monthly) for the participant's lifetime (instead of a total amount that could run out, like an IRA).  This cre...