Gray Divorce Financial Specialist
FedEx pensions, healthcare retirement, real estate — the financial stakes at 50+ are higher than ever. This guide shows you exactly what to protect.
Leanne Ozaine, CDFA® & CFP® | Specializing in gray divorce for 50+
Turn Panic Into Power — $97If you're over 50 and facing divorce in Memphis's affluent eastern suburbs, child custody battles typically aren't your main concern. Your children are grown, possibly working at St. Jude or FedEx, or building their own families. Instead, your divorce centers entirely on protecting and dividing decades of accumulated wealth in one of the Mid-South's most prosperous regions.
This is especially challenging if you've never personally managed the family finances. Perhaps your spouse handled FedEx pension benefits, St. Jude healthcare compensation, Methodist Le Bonheur executive packages, or real estate investments in Germantown and Collierville while you focused on raising children in excellent school districts or supporting their demanding career. Now you're facing questions like:
Defined benefit pensions. Deferred compensation. 401(k) matching. QDRO requirements. You've heard these terms for years. You know they're valuable.
But do you actually understand what they are? What portion is marital property? How are pension benefits calculated? What happens to survivor benefits after divorce? How do you divide a pension without triggering penalties?
Your spouse has lived with these compensation statements for 25 years. They understand vesting schedules, early retirement options, and benefit calculations.
You're seeing these documents for the first time — while negotiating a settlement that could be worth $800,000-$1.5 million.
FedEx pensions and healthcare retirement benefits aren't magic. They're complicated — but complicated has solutions. You need someone who can decode the benefit statements, translate the QDRO requirements, and show you exactly what's yours under Tennessee equitable distribution law.
The difference between understanding pension division and not? It can easily be $200,000-$400,000 in your final settlement.
FedEx Corporation is headquartered in Memphis and is the region's largest employer, with thousands of employees who have built 20, 30, or 40-year careers at FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and other operating companies. Gray divorce cases involving FedEx employees often include extraordinarily complex pension and benefits structures.
FedEx pension complexity:
FedEx 401(k) and retirement savings:
FedEx executive compensation:
Common scenario: Your spouse worked at FedEx Express for 30 years, retiring at 55 with a pension of $4,500/month for life. That pension has a present value of approximately $900,000-$1.2 million depending on life expectancy and interest rates. You're entitled to a portion of the marital share—but how much? And should you take your share as a percentage of each monthly payment, or as a lump sum rollover? These decisions have massive tax and financial planning implications.
For those new to pension finances: A defined benefit pension promises you a specific monthly payment for life, typically based on years of service and final average salary. Unlike a 401(k) where you can see the account balance, pensions are promises to pay—and valuing that promise requires actuarial calculations. Understanding pension division is absolutely critical because mistakes can cost you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is one of the world's premier pediatric research and treatment centers, headquartered in Memphis. The hospital employs thousands of physicians, researchers, nurses, administrators, and support staff—many of whom live in Germantown and Collierville. St. Jude employees often have exceptional compensation and benefits packages.
St. Jude divorce considerations:
Valuation challenges: Medical research intellectual property is difficult to value. A patent or research protocol developed during your marriage might generate minimal revenue now but could be worth millions if licensed to pharmaceutical companies. Protecting your interest requires sophisticated valuation and negotiation.
For those new to healthcare compensation: Medical professionals often have complex, multi-layered compensation including base salary, productivity bonuses, research grants, teaching stipends, and intellectual property royalties. Understanding all the pieces—and which ones are marital property—is essential for fair division in divorce.
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare is one of the Mid-South's largest healthcare systems, operating multiple hospitals and employing thousands of physicians, nurses, and healthcare professionals throughout Memphis and the surrounding area.
Methodist Le Bonheur benefits in divorce:
Important note: In Tennessee, professional degrees and medical licenses are NOT considered property subject to division. However, the income-earning capacity from that medical degree IS considered heavily in spousal support calculations.
Germantown and Collierville consistently rank among Tennessee's wealthiest communities, with excellent schools, low crime, and high property values. East Memphis areas like Chickasaw Gardens also feature substantial real estate appreciation. Your home is likely your largest single asset—and the most emotionally charged.
Affluent Memphis suburb characteristics:
Memphis real estate market considerations:
Critical decisions you're facing:
For those new to real estate planning: Just because you can technically afford the mortgage doesn't mean you should keep the house. Consider total costs: mortgage, property taxes, municipal taxes, insurance, utilities, lawn care, repairs, and maintenance. Will you have enough income left over for retirement savings, healthcare, travel, and emergencies? Sometimes the wisest choice is to sell the family home, split the equity, and each buy a smaller property that's easier to maintain and afford.
One of Tennessee's most significant financial advantages is the absence of state income tax on wages, salaries, pensions, and most other income. This creates unique divorce planning opportunities that don't exist in high-tax states.
How no state income tax affects Memphis-area divorce planning:
Strategic divorce consideration: If you're considering relocating after divorce—perhaps to be near adult children or grandchildren in another state—Tennessee's tax advantage is worth quantifying in your settlement negotiations. Moving from Memphis to a state with 7% income tax means you'd need $107,000 in income to maintain the same after-tax lifestyle as $100,000 in Tennessee. Over 20-30 years of retirement, this advantage is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Comparison example: Let's say you're 58 and negotiating spousal support. You determine you need $72,000/year after taxes to maintain your lifestyle.
Tennessee's tax advantage is a massive benefit you should protect and leverage in your divorce settlement negotiations.
For those new to tax planning: State income tax is one of your largest lifetime expenses in high-tax states, but in Tennessee you pay ZERO state tax on earned income, pensions, Social Security, IRA withdrawals, and most other income. If you receive $60,000/year in spousal support or pension income and moved to a state with 7% state tax, you'd lose $4,200 every single year. Over a 25-year retirement, that's $105,000 lost to taxes. Staying in Tennessee protects this advantage.
In the Memphis-Germantown area, we work with clients divorcing after 20, 30, or 40+ years of marriage. Here's what makes gray divorce financially complex in this region:
If your spouse has worked at FedEx, St. Jude, or Methodist Le Bonheur for 20-30 years, you've likely accumulated substantial wealth through:
Common scenario: Your spouse worked at FedEx for 28 years and is retiring with a pension of $4,200/month. You have a $650,000 home in Germantown, $725,000 in combined retirement accounts, FedEx stock worth $85,000, and investment accounts of $190,000. Total marital assets: approximately $1.65 million. How do you divide this fairly while ensuring you can maintain your lifestyle through retirement?
When you're 50, 60, or older, you don't have decades to "start over" financially. Every asset division decision affects whether you can retire comfortably in Memphis or Tennessee.
Critical questions:
Many of our Memphis clients—particularly those who focused on homemaking or supporting a spouse's demanding FedEx or healthcare career—have never personally managed pensions, deferred compensation, or six-figure investment portfolios.
You're not alone: We help you understand what you have, how it works, and how to manage it going forward. FedEx pension options, St. Jude retirement plans, and QDRO procedures aren't intuitive, but they're absolutely learnable. You don't need to become a financial expert overnight—you just need guidance from someone who understands both divorce financial planning AND the specific Memphis employment landscape.
If you're 50-64 and divorcing, healthcare coverage becomes a critical planning issue. You're too young for Medicare but may lose coverage through your spouse's FedEx, St. Jude, or Methodist Le Bonheur employer plan.
Memphis-area healthcare coverage options:
Planning consideration: Healthcare costs between ages 50-65 can be $7,000-$15,000+ per year. This must be factored into your spousal support calculations and budget planning. Don't overlook it.
As a Memphis resident, your divorce follows Tennessee's equitable distribution laws. This means:
Important note: Marital fault (adultery, abandonment, cruelty) does NOT affect property division in Tennessee, but it CAN affect spousal support awards.
Learn more about Tennessee's equitable distribution laws and community property election →
Tennessee courts have broad discretion in awarding spousal support. For gray divorce in Memphis's affluent communities, support is often a central issue.
Tennessee spousal support factors:
For gray divorce: If you're 55+ and haven't worked outside the home for 25+ years while your spouse built a lucrative FedEx or healthcare career, Tennessee courts recognize you may never achieve comparable earning capacity. Long-term or even permanent spousal support becomes much more likely, especially in marriages over 20-30 years.
Memphis-area support considerations:
We provide virtual divorce financial planning services throughout the Memphis metropolitan area, including:
The 5-step system that shows you what you'll actually live on, so you stop guessing and start knowing.
Calculate your real post-divorce income — including FedEx pension benefits, spousal support, and assets — so you negotiate from facts, not fear.
Document gathering checklists tell you exactly what to bring to your attorney — so you walk in prepared, not panicked.
Map out your real expenses as a single person — before you fight for something you can't actually maintain on one income.
The asset identification system helps you find accounts, pensions, and property you might not even know exist.
22-page guide + video tutorials + checklists + templates
$97
Instant access. 100% money-back guarantee.
Get the Clarity You Need — $97Whether you're learning to manage FedEx pension benefits for the first time or protecting decades of healthcare industry wealth, we provide the education and guidance you need to navigate Memphis divorce with confidence—while maximizing Tennessee's no-state-income-tax advantage.
Turn Panic Into Power — $97 Schedule a Strategy Session