Opinion ID: 1057654
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Adoption of the Relevant Language

Text: Language similar to the provision at issue was first added in 1983, when the General Assembly enacted a substantial overhaul of the law governing the division of property and the award of support and maintenance in divorce cases. Act of May 12, 1983, 1983 Tenn. Pub. Acts 798, 800 (the 1983 Act). Notably, the 1983 Act addressed retirement rights as part of the larger category of property acquired by a spouse during a marriage: Marital property means all real and personal property, both tangible and intangible, acquired by either or both spouses during the course of the marriage and presently owned by either or both spouses; including ... the value of vested pension, retirement or other fringe benefit rights accrued during the period of the marriage. Id. at ch. 414, § 4(b)(1) (emphasis added). Although the current version of section 36-4-121(b)(1) has broken its definition of marital property into multiple subsections and no longer explicitly refers to the value of retirement rights as property ... acquired... during the course of the marriage, I have found nothing to suggest that the General Assembly has elected to define marital property on a basis other than the time the right is acquired. In my assessment, the original language of the statute supports the conclusion that retirement benefit rights should be initially classified as either marital or separate based upon the timing of the acquisition.