Florida Retirement Plan Division: Fla. Stat. § 61.076 Explained (2026)

By Nadia Pazos, Family Law Attorney, Pazos Law Group · Updated August 2026

Fla. Stat. § 61.076 is the statute that makes retirement benefits divisible in a Florida divorce. It is only three subsections long, but it settles the threshold question — whether a pension, 401(k), profit-sharing plan, annuity, deferred compensation plan or insurance program is marital property at all — and imposes specific drafting requirements when military retired pay is divided.

What Does Fla. Stat. § 61.076 Cover?

Fla. Stat. § 61.076 is titled “Distribution of retirement plans upon dissolution of marriage.” It is short — three subsections — but it decides one of the largest questions in most Florida divorces: whether a retirement benefit is divisible at all.

Subsection (1) answers it: “All vested and nonvested benefits, rights, and funds accrued during the marriage in retirement, pension, profit-sharing, annuity, deferred compensation, and insurance plans and programs are marital assets subject to equitable distribution.”

Subsections (2) and (3) then deal exclusively with retired or retainer pay from the federal uniformed services. Everything else — how the marital share is valued, offset, and actually divided — runs through § 61.075, the equitable distribution statute.

Are Unvested Retirement Benefits Marital Property in Florida?

Yes. The single most consequential word in § 61.076(1) is “nonvested.” The statute reaches “all vested and nonvested benefits, rights, and funds,” which means a spouse cannot shelter a pension or an employer contribution simply because it has not yet vested at the time of the divorce.

What limits the reach is not vesting but timing: only what “accrued during the marriage” is marital. Contributions, service credit, and growth attributable to periods before the marriage or after the § 61.075 cut-off date are not swept in by § 61.076(1).

Which Plans Does § 61.076(1) Reach?

The subsection names six categories of “plans and programs” expressly:

• Retirement plans
• Pension plans
• Profit-sharing plans
• Annuity plans
• Deferred compensation plans
• Insurance plans and programs

Note that the statute reaches “benefits, rights, and funds” — three different things. A defined-benefit pension produces a future right rather than a present fund, and § 61.076(1) covers it either way. The inclusion of “insurance plans and programs” is easy to miss and matters where a policy has accumulated cash value during the marriage.

How Much of a Pension Is Marital?

Section 61.076(1) supplies the principle — only what accrued during the marriage — not an arithmetic formula. In practice that makes three questions decisive, and all three are governed by § 61.075 rather than § 61.076:

1. When did the marriage begin and the marital period end? The cut-off date drives everything downstream.
2. What accrued inside that window? For a defined-contribution plan this is usually traceable from statements; for a defined-benefit pension it usually requires actuarial work.
3. Is the marital share divided in kind or offset against other assets? Section 61.076 makes the benefit divisible; it does not require any particular mechanism.

What Is a QDRO, and Does § 61.076 Require One?

Section 61.076 does not mention qualified domestic relations orders. That is worth stating plainly, because the two ideas are often merged. The statute performs one job: it classifies the benefit as a marital asset subject to equitable distribution. The mechanics of actually splitting an employer-sponsored plan are governed by the plan documents and by federal law, not by § 61.076.

Practically, this means a Florida final judgment can be perfectly correct under § 61.076 and § 61.075 and still fail to move a dollar until a separate qualifying order is drafted, entered, and accepted by the plan administrator. Our § 61.075 equitable distribution guide covers plan-by-plan handling in more detail.

What Is the “10/10 Rule” for Military Retired Pay (§ 61.076(2))?

Section 61.076(2) applies where three conditions coincide:

• the parties “were married for at least 10 years”;
• during that marriage, “at least one of the parties who was a member of the federal uniformed services performed at least 10 years of creditable service”; and
• the division of marital property “includes a division of uniformed services retired or retainer pay.”

Where all three are present, the statute says the final judgment “shall include” specific content — a mandatory drafting requirement, not a suggestion.

What three findings must the final judgment contain (§ 61.076(2)(a)–(c))?

1. § 61.076(2)(a) — “Sufficient information to identify the member of the uniformed services.”
2. § 61.076(2)(b) — “Certification that the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act was observed if the decree was issued while the member was on active duty and was not represented in court.”
3. § 61.076(2)(c) — “A specification of the amount of retired or retainer pay to be distributed pursuant to the order, expressed in dollars or as a percentage of the disposable retired or retainer pay.”

Subparagraph (c) is where judgments most often go wrong. The statute gives exactly two permitted expressions — a dollar amount or a percentage of disposable retired or retainer pay. A judgment that describes the award some other way invites a rejected or unenforceable order. Military divorce issues are covered further on our Florida military divorce page.

How Often Can Military Retired Pay Be Paid Out (§ 61.076(3))?

Section 61.076(3) sets two limits on any order dividing federal uniformed services retired or retainer pay. Such an order “shall not provide for payment from this source more frequently than monthly and shall not require the payor to vary normal pay and disbursement cycles for retired or retainer pay in order to comply with the order.”

So a Florida judgment cannot direct semi-monthly or weekly payments out of military retired pay, and cannot order the paying entity to restructure its disbursement calendar. If a former spouse needs a different cadence, it has to come from a different asset or from support under § 61.08.

How Does § 61.076 Interact With the Rest of Chapter 61?

• § 61.075 — supplies the classification framework, the statutory factors, and the valuation date that determine how the marital share identified by § 61.076(1) is actually distributed.
• § 61.08 — alimony is a separate award; retirement division is property, not support.
• § 61.052 — § 61.052(3) lets the court preserve the property of the parties while the case is pending, which matters where a plan could be liquidated or borrowed against.
• § 61.079 — a valid premarital agreement can reallocate property rights that § 61.076 would otherwise make divisible.
• § 61.16 — the cost of the actuarial and drafting work in a contested pension case often becomes a fee issue.

What Should Your Final Judgment Say About Retirement?

1. Identify every plan in the six § 61.076(1) categories, including insurance products with cash value.
2. State the marital period used to measure what “accrued during the marriage.”
3. State the marital share for each plan — and, for military retired pay, express it in dollars or as a percentage of disposable retired or retainer pay per § 61.076(2)(c).
4. Include the § 61.076(2)(a)–(b) content where the 10/10 conditions are met.
5. Respect the § 61.076(3) limits — no more frequently than monthly, no altered disbursement cycles.
6. Provide for the implementing order separately, since § 61.076 does not supply one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official Sources & Related Reading

• Fla. Stat. § 61.076, Distribution of retirement plans upon dissolution of marriage — official text (Online Sunshine)
• Fla. Stat. § 61.075, Equitable distribution of marital assets and liabilities — official text
• Fla. Stat. § 61.052, Dissolution of marriage — official text
• Florida Family Law Forms — flcourts.gov
• Fla. Stat. § 61.075 — Equitable Distribution Explained
• Fla. Stat. § 61.16 — Attorney’s Fees, Suit Money and Costs
• Florida Military Divorce Attorney
• High-Net-Worth Divorce — Practice Area

The information on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading or sharing this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with Pazos Law Group. Florida law and the application of statutes change over time; please consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation.