Court Opinion

ID: 9514283
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:48:28.383542+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:15.852282
License: Public Domain

AMUNDSON, Justice
(dissenting).
[¶ 15] In order for Marilyn to receive direct payments from the Veteran’s Administration she had to submit an Application for Former Spouse Payment from Retired Pay. Marilyn signed the application, which stated:
*499I hereby acknowledge that any payment to me cannot lawfully exceed 50 percent of the member’s disposable retired pay which is gross retired pay minus deductions such as those authorized or required for income tax, Federal indebtedness, or disability reasons; that my payments may not exceed any lesser amount or percentage by court order; and that any court-ordered percentage must be construed as a percentage of disposable retired pay. (Emphasis added.)
[¶ 16] At issue in this case is whether Richard’s military disability payments are property subject to division. This involves the interpretation of federal law which the United States Supreme Court has interpreted in Mansell v. Mansell, 490 U.S. 581, 583-94, 109 S.Ct. 2028, 2025-32, 104 L.Ed.2d 675, 681-89 (1989). Congress enacted the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act (USFSPA), 10 U.S.C. § 1408, in direct response to McCarty v. McCarty, 453 U.S. 210, 101 S.Ct. 2728, 69 L.Ed.2d 589 (1981). McCarty held that federal law completely preempted the application of state property law to military retirement pay. USFSPA authorizes state courts to treat as community property “disposable retired or retainer pay[.]” 10 U.S.C. § 1408(c)(1). However, § 1408(a)(4)(B) specifically excludes any military retirement pay waived in order for the retiree to receive military disability benefits from the definition of disposable retired or retainer pay.
[¶ 17] The majority contends Owen v. Owen, 14 Va.App. 623, 419 S.E.2d 267, 269 (1992), is persuasive. At the time of divorce in Owen, the husband had no disability rating. Id. at 268. The parties agreed to a guaranteed level of income ($1,241.47) to be paid to the wife. Id. The husband agreed to not take any action to reduce this level of income. Id. The Owen court said the agreement established a guaranteed level of income which did not offend the federal prohibition against direct assignment of the military disability pay. Id. at 269. In the present case, Marilyn and Richard’s agreement stated that he was to pay her one-half of his total retirement pay, however, the agreement did not guarantee a certain level of income as in Owen. To hold as the majority does is redrafting the parties’ agreement. This court, on prior occasions, has held that it is not a function of the court to rewrite the parties’ agreements. Pengra v. Pengra, 429 N.W.2d 754, 756-57 (S.D.1988). See also Moller v. Moller, 356 N.W.2d 909, 911-12 (S.D.1984); Girard v. Pardun, 318 N.W.2d 137, 140 (S.D.1982).
[¶ 18] The trial court, after considering Mansell, stated that Richard was to pay Marilyn an amount equal to one-half of his total gross annuity payments prior to any reduction for disability payments. The clear mandate of Mansell does not allow such a holding. The Mansell court stated:
We realize that reading the statute literally may inflict economic harm on many former spouses. But we decline to misread the statute in order to reach a sympathetic result when such a reading requires us to do violence to the plain language of the statute and to ignore much of the legislative history. Congress chose the language that requires us to decide as we do, and Congress is free to change it.
490 U.S. at 594, 109 S.Ct. at 2032, 104 L.Ed.2d at 689. To this day, Congress has not changed it. By literally construing this federal law there is only one conclusion and that is the trial court erred in dividing this exempt disability payment. The record reflects that this disability payment was the only type of payment discussed between the parties. Simply having an unfortunate result does not justify overruling the federal dictates.
[¶ 19] Based on the foregoing analysis, I dissent, and would reverse and remand for proper distribution.