Why NYPD and FDNY pensions now drive the marital estate — and why that changes your intake.
Here’s what I wish someone had told me earlier in my career: the day will come when the pension is no longer a line item on the marital balance sheet. It is the balance sheet. For NYPD and FDNY families, that day is here.
Look at the scale. In fiscal year 2005, the five New York City pension systems paid out $8.6 billion in benefits. By FY2015 that number reached $13.4 billion. By FY2025 it hit $21.7 billion — roughly 2.5 times where it stood twenty years ago. Those are audited City Comptroller figures: same five funds, same metric.
The numbers are accelerating, not flattening
On the NYPD side, the City paid $3.59 billion in pension benefits in FY2025, an 8 percent jump over the prior year, to more than 54,000 retirees. In FY2024 alone, 1,502 officers with twenty or more years of service retired and began collecting. The cohort of retirees pulling $200,000 or more a year has nearly tripled in three years.
On the FDNY side, the average pension is up 51 percent over the past decade. The number of retirees eligible for pensions over $300,000 a year stood at 11 a year ago. Today it stands at 46 — a fourfold increase in twelve months.
Three forces are driving the cases onto your desk
- The Tier 2-A cohort. Officers and firefighters hired between 2000 and 2009 are 37 to 50 today — at or past the twenty-year mark that triggers eligibility. Career transitions and the financial clarity of a guaranteed retirement income correlate with elevated divorce rates.
- The 9/11 health legacy. WTC-related conditions are pushing members into disability retirement years early. Every WTC certification on a file changes the marital-property analysis.
- The timing window. Once the member files the retirement application and elects an option, that election is generally irrevocable. The order must be on file before the member retires. The agreement is the last chance.
What it means for you
If any party in your case works for the NYPD, FDNY, or any NYC governmental agency, the moment to engage a pension professional is not at settlement. It’s at intake. The cases are here, they’re getting bigger, and the timing window is shorter than most practitioners realize.
Your job is to spot the issue. Our job is to draft the order. In the next post, I’ll show you why citing Majauskas alone no longer protects your client.
Attorney Advertising. Informational and educational purposes only — not legal advice. Erin Norris-Colgan, Esq. — Senior Partner, Angiuli & Gentile, LLP; Co-Founder, Northstar QDRO. northstarqdro.com
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In FY2005, NYC’s five pension systems paid out $8.6 billion. In FY2025: $21.7 billion. Roughly 2.5x in twenty years.
For the NYPD and FDNY families I see across divorce files, that means the pension is no longer a line item on the marital balance sheet. It often IS the balance sheet — worth more than the home, the 401(k), and everything else combined.
Three forces are putting these cases on our desks right now: the Tier 2-A cohort hitting twenty years, the 9/11 health legacy pushing members into disability retirement, and a timing window that closes the moment the member files for retirement.
The takeaway for matrimonial practitioners: if any party works for NYPD, FDNY, or any NYC governmental agency, the time to flag the pension is at intake — not at settlement.
New on the Northstar blog, first in the Beyond Majauskas series: “The Retirement Wave Is Here.” Link in comments. → If you have an open NYPD/FDNY pension case and want a second set of eyes, reply or DM me.
#matrimoniallaw #familylaw #QDRO #NYPD #FDNY #divorce | Attorney Advertising. Not legal advice.
