Opinion ID: 1156814
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Did the Court Err in Failing to Include in the Marital Estate a $14,000 Retroactive Earnings Payment Earned by Jay Hartland Prior to the Date of Evaluation?

Text: Patricia argues that the trial court erred in failing to include in the marital estate $14,000 in commissions earned by Jay prior to October 31, 1986. The trial court considered the commissions deferred income but reasoned that since Jay had not yet received them, the commissions should not be included as marital property. Both parties agree that the income was for past services rendered. Jay had been put on a form of probation by Shearson Lehman Brothers for his inadequate performance in 1985. Under this probation, a certain portion of commissions were withheld until he met a certain dollar level in transactions. Patricia argues that the issue presents a question of law reviewable under the substitution of judgment standard. She cites Schober v. Schober, 692 P.2d 267 (Alaska 1984), for the proposition that vested or earned compensation which has yet to be received is divisible property. In Schober, this court held that unused personal leave, which could be converted into cash by the person accruing it, is a marital asset. The fact that the unused leave could not all be converted into cash until a number of years after the divorce did not prevent the court from holding that the leave was a marital asset. Id. Under Schober, Jay's deferred commissions resulting from his employer's probation program should be considered marital property. Consequently, the superior court erred as a matter of law in excluding these commissions from the marital estate. We reverse the court's exclusion of this income from the marital estate and remand for an appropriate division of the asset.