Court Opinion

ID: 9765891
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:23:33.706288+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:15.982365
License: Public Domain

Darrell Hickman, Justice, dissenting. The majority may have “inadvertently” overlooked that in a half dozen cases we have adopted a traditional approach to marital property, but I haven’t. Those decisions, I assume, are all overruled by this decision. Potter v. Potter, 280 Ark. 38, 655 S.W.2d 382 (1983); Hackett v. Hackett, 278 Ark. 82, 643 S.W.2d 560 (1982); Russell v. Russell, 275 Ark. 193, 628 S.W.2d 315 (1982); Bachman v. Bachman, 274 Ark. 23, 621 S.W.2d 701 (1981); Paulsen v. Paulsen, 269 Ark. 523, 601 S.W.2d 873 (1980); Sweeney v. Sweeney, 267 Ark. 595, 593 S.W.2d 21 (1980); Knopf v. Knopf, 264 Ark. 946, 576 S.W.2d 193 (1979). The Potter case’s precedential value is questionable in any event. The approach of the majority, which follows that of California, can only lead to more confusion, uncertainty and perhaps, in many cases, less equitable decisions. In the past our courts have offset any inequity in a settlement of marital property by an award of alimony, which is now available to either party. If the circumstances of the marriage, the participation of the parties in the acquisition of property, or the raising of the family, deserve some consideration in terms of money, it can be taken care of with alimony. I would not even quarrel with the decision in this case if the wife were awarded alimony in the same amount she will receive from the division of the retirement plan. But by our prior decisions the pension was not marital property on the day of the divorce. It had no cash value; it had no loan value, it could not be divided; and it could not be assigned or transferred. If Mr. Day lives, he may draw it someday. The mere fact that Mr. Day contributed a small percentage of his monthly check into the plan during their marriage should not convert it into marital property. The same argument will apply to social security benefits received by a person that is self-employed. The next extensions of the rule will be insurance benefits with no cash or loan value. They are all paid for with funds during the marriage. Some of the same logic can be applied to military pensions. Divorce is supposed to be a final act, the severing of all possible ties between two parties, the dividing of the property they have acquired in the marriage on the date of the divorce. If the property can be divided at divorce, it should be done at that point. Russell v. Russell, supra. If it appears inequities may result regarding either party, alimony is the answer. That has been the answer of our courts and a good many other courts. See, Wilson v. Wilson, 409 N.E.2d 1169 (Ind. App. 1980); In Re Marriage of Ellis, 538 P.2d 1347 (Colo. App. 1975); Ratcliff v. Ratcliff, 586 S.W.2d 292 (Ky. App. 1979); Robert C.S. v. Barbara J.S., 434 A.2d 383 (Del. 1981), citing Paulsen v. Paulsen, supra; and In Re Marriage of Camarta, 602 P.2d 907 (Colo. App. 1979). I see no reason to abandon that rule in favor of a different approach used by California. I would reverse the decree. Adkisson, C.J., joins in this dissent.