Source: https://louisvilledivorce.typepad.com/info/retirement_planes/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 14:43:42+00:00

Document:
In divorce proceedings, husband had a civil pension. The marital portion was divided equally between the parties using the deferred distribution method. Husband argued that the award should not include the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) he received after the divorce. The Circuit Court concluded wife was entitled to the COLAs corresponding to her share of the pension. The Appellate Court affirmed the Circuit Court’s conclusion holding the wife's portion of the marital retirement should include the COLAs, as they are not earnings attributable to the husband's post-decree efforts.
N.J.S. v. C.D.G. Because the Ky child support statute does not authorize a credit against child support for child’s social security retirement dependent benefit, it was error allow such a credit and to order that payor be reimbursed for child support overpayment from the child’s retroactive lump-sum benefit. Concurring opinion underscores the need for legislative fix as is currently provided for with respect to disability dependent benefits.
Husband appealed TC’s classification and division of his firefighter’s pension plan as a marital asset. He claimed his defined benefits plan was exempt from division under KRS 61.690, that premarital contributions were improperly included in its award, and that an incorrect method was used to divide the pension.
The parties were married in 1989, separated in 2003, and a decree of dissolution of marriage was entered on December 12, 2005 reserving the issue of division of husband’s pension administered by the Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS). A supplemental judgment was entered April 8, 2008 concluding the pension was a marital asset subject to division and finding the delayed division method set forth in Poe v. Poe, 711 S.W.2d 849 (Ky. App. 1986) to be the most equitable method of dividing the pension. Wife was awarded one-half of 194/240 months of service credit as of November 2, 2007, the 20th anniversary of husband’s participation in the plan.
Husband’s assertion that KRS 61.690 prohibited division of his pension was held to be without merit because the 2000 amendment to the statute which exempted KERS benefits from consideration as marital property was deleted in 2002 and the exemption was not in effect when the divorce was filed or on the date of dissolution.
Husband also claimed that trial court improperly included premarital contributions to the pension, but the CA found that the trial court properly deducted the 24 months of contributions prior to the marriage and the 22 months of contributions made after entry of the decree and thus was unable to conclude the trial court improperly included premarital contribution in its award.
Citing Armstrong, 34 S.W.3d at 86 (citing Clark v. Clark¸782 S.W.2d 56, 62 (Ky. App. 1990), the CA said it is clear “that pension and profit sharing plans should be valued on the date of the divorce decree.” Since the trial court’s award incorrectly set the valuation date at November 2, 2007 (the date of husband’s twentieth anniversary of participation in the plan, this matter was reversed and remanded for entry of an award valuing the pension on December 12, 2005, the decree date and recalculation of the coverture fraction using the earlier date.
Finally, husband argued trial court erred in utilizing the delayed division method in allocating his pension benefits and should have used the net present value method. The CA found that the trial court clearly weighed the evidence to determine the proper method of dividing the pension and there was no abuse in the exercise of its broad discretion.
Kennedy v. Plan Adm. for DuPont Savings was heard by the United States Supreme Court yesterday. At issue is whether a divorce agreement waiving survivorship pension rights is sufficient to defeat an unchanged beneficiary designation. The 5th circuit had held that a QDRO was the only way to defeat a pension beneficiary designation, creating a conflict between federal and state law. SCOTUSBLOG has posted the briefs and a summary of the issues at its companion SCOTUSWIKI. A transcript of the oral argument link is republished here.
We reported briefly here on this case in September and we'll keep you posted when it is decided.
The family law bar has been abuzz about large invoices from Fidelity for processing QDROs and one lawyer says Schwab even charged for approving its own QDRO sample form. Can they do that? Apparently so according to the U.S. Department of Labor if the plan so provides. So, before forking over that fee one could ask to see if the plan authorizes passing on the QDRO processing expense to the participant or alternate payee. It may also be prudent to address in the agreement or judgment which spouse pays the fee.
Husband appealed from order of the Bullitt County Circuit Court (TC), confirming Domestic Relations Commissioner’s (DRC's) report, dividing his pension plan with Ex-wife, contending that TC erred in its computation of the present value of the plan.
Husband and Ex-Wife were married for 27 years. Husband began earning his pension benefits shortly after the parties married. The primary disagreement between the parties concerned the present value of Husband’s defined benefits pension plan. However, at the hearing on this issue, only Ex-Wife offered evidence in regard to the calculation of the plan's value. Included in Ex-Wife's evidence was a pension valuation which utilized the monthly benefit amount Husband would receive if he continued to work until his normal retirement age, multiplied by 174 months (Husband’s post-retirement life expectancy), and then discounted to present value by 2.25% per local rule. DRC’s findings of fact and conclusions of law concluded that Husband’s pension plan had a value equal to that calculated by Wife, to be discounted for present value by 2.25%, and the entirety of that amount was marital property. DRC did not explain how he arrived at a 2.25% annual discount rate, nor does the rule allow for the Commissioner to explain the influence of the annual inflation rate or other essential data required to provide a competent analysis of the pension plan's present value.
After no exceptions were filed within ten days, TC adopted DRC’s report in its entirety. Husband then filed a motion pursuant to CR 59.05 to alter or amend TC’s order adopting DRC’s report, asserting that DRC accepted Ex-Wife’s erroneous evidence regarding the value of his pension plan. TC assigned matter to DRC for a recommendation as to whether TC’s order should be altered or amended. After hearing, DRC filed his report recommending that Husband’s CR 59.05 motion be denied because he had not offered any new evidence which was not readily available to him at the property division hearing. Before TC could act on the recommendation, Husband filed a motion for a hearing to contest DRC’s valuation of his pension plan. TC adopted DRC’s recommendation to deny the first CR 59.05 motion and denied Husband’s motion for hearing. This appeal followed.
Ex-Wife argues that Husband’s failures to offer evidence of the present value of the pension and to timely file exceptions to DRC’s report are fatal to his appeal. CA disagreed, finding that TC abdicated its discretion to DRC and erred by adopting a present day value of Husband’s pension plan which was not supported by competent evidence. Further, even if Husband insufficiently preserved the issue for review, a palpable error affecting the substantial rights of an individual resulting in manifest injustice is reviewable, even if insufficiently raised or preserved.
Although the evidence as to the value of the pension was limited and offered only by Ex-Wife, CA held that, as a matter of law, the value assigned to the pension plan was clearly erroneous and the error so serious that it must be considered palpable. TC miscalculated the present value of his pension plan by allowing Husband’s post-divorce earnings to be included in the calculation of the present value of the pension plan. Because Ex-Wife's share of the pension was limited to her interest in its accumulated value earned during the marriage, TC abused its discretion by allowing Ex-Wife to receive a share of the pension which included Husband’s post-divorce earnings. Reversed and remanded for a new hearing to determine the marital distribution of Husband’s pension as of the date of the parties’ divorce.
CA noted that Bullitt County’s local rule regarding establishment of present day value of a pension negates the requirement of expert testimony and is not based upon accepted accounting or economic principles, and that entry of a QDRO dividing the pension would be simpler and is a preferable method of division of pensions.
Ex-Wife appealed to SC from CA opinion that affirmed TC’s order providing that Ex-Husband’s Kentucky Teacher's Retirement Account would be fully excluded from classification and division of the parties’ marital property pursuant to KRS 161.700(2). Ex-Wife argued to SC that both TC and CA erred in failing to give effect to the provisions set forth in KRS 403.190(4).
At time of trial, Ex-Husband had approximately $81,410 in his KTRS account while Ex-Wife had approximately $1,896 in her Fidelity Simplified Employee Pension (SEP-IRA). Ex-Husband argued to TC that his KTRS account was exempt from classification and division as marital property under KRS 161.700(2), while Ex-Wife argued her SEP-IRA qualified as a retirement account and therefore KRS 403.190(4) overrode KRS 161.700(2) and operated to limit the amount of the KTRS funds that Ex-Husband could claim as exempt. CA affirmed TC’s opinion, holding that KRS 403.190(4) and KRS 161 .700(2) were in conflict, and thus, pursuant to principles of statutory construction, the exemption provisions set forth in KRS 161.700(2) would control over the provisions set forth in KRS 403.190(4). CA held that, alternatively, KRS 403.190(4) is inapplicable unless both spouses have an account that qualifies as a "retirement-benefit" as is defined in KRS 403.190(4), and held that Ex-Wife’s SEP-IRA was not such a "retirement benefit" as defined in that statute.
SC found no conflict between the two statutes. SC held that KRS 161.700(2) specifically exempted the KTRS retirement benefits accumulated by Ex-Husband during the marriage from being classified and divided upon divorce, but that the language set forth in KRS 403.190(4) clearly anticipates statutes such as KRS 161.700(2) and thus, by the plain language of the statute, KRS 403.190(4) is meant to be read in conjunction, not in conflict with, KRS 161.700(2). Furthermore, SC held that any retirement plan that is covered by ERISA is subject to the application of KRS 403.190(4), and as Ex-Wife’s SEP IRA was an employer funded plan covered by ERISA, KRS 403.190(4) applied to the classification and divisibility of the parties’ retirement accounts.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals holds that a QDRO is the only route to waiver of pension rights upon divorce. This case involved Decedent-Husband, who was a DuPont employee and participant in its savings and investment plan (SIP). Decedent had signed a beneficiary-designation form in 1974, identifying Wife as the SIP’s sole beneficiary. Decedent and Wife were divorced in 1994. In the divorce decree, Wife agreed to be divested of “all right, title, interest, and claim in and to … the proceeds therefrom, and any other rights related to any … retirement plan, pension plan, or like benefit program existing by reason of [decedent’s] employment.” However, no QDRO was ever submitted to DuPont. Decedent never changed or removed the Wife as the SIP beneficiary.
Decedent’s estate demanded DuPont distribute SIP funds to the estate, claiming that Wife’s beneficiary designation was invalid under the Texas Family Code, which provides that spousal beneficiary designations are rendered invalid by a divorce. While the district court held that federal law preempted state law, it found that a federal common law approach applied, allowing waiver of the benefits.
"In the marital-dissolution context, the QDRO provisions supply the sole exception to the anti-alienation provision, they exempt a state domestic-relations order determined to be a QDRO, under the standards set forth in ERISA… When, as here, ERISA provides a specific mechanism – the QDRO – for addressing the elimination of a souse’s interest in plan benefits, but that mechanism is not invoked, there is no basis to formulate a federal-common-law rule. Requiring DuPont to recognize the waiver in this situation would conflict with ERISA by purporting to determine rights to pension-plan benefits in a manner not authorized by the QDRO provisions, 29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(3), and therefore, not permitted by the anti-alienation provision, 29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(1). "
Online resources for dividing U.S. Government Thrift Savings Plans for active duty military can be found here. Resources for federal civilian employees can be found here.

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