Court Opinion

ID: 9884507
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 03:00:12.206346+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:39.170511
License: Public Domain

POPOVICH, Chief Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent and would reverse for the following reasons:
1. “Determination of whether a particular item of property is marital or nonmari-tal is a question of law * * *." Erdahl v. Erdahl, 384 N.W.2d 566, 568 (Minn.Ct.App.1986). Appellant claims his state trooper pension benefits are exempt from consideration as marital property in dissolution proceedings.
*882At the time this action commenced, Minn. Stat. § 352B.071 (Supp.1983) exempted state trooper benefits from process:
None of the moneys, annuities, or other benefits provided for in [chapter 352B] shall be assignable either in law or in equity or be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process, including actions for dissolution, legal separation, or child support.
Id. (emphasis added).
The Minnesota Legislature exempted the benefits from dissolution actions in 1983. Legislative history research of the 1983 amendment reveals a legislative intent to update the statute with almost identical language contained in a similar exemption statute for public employees’ retirement benefits under Minn.Stat. § 353.15 (1982).
In 1984, both Minn.Stat. §§ 352B.071 and 353.15 were further amended to allow for the collection of child support or maintenance pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 518.611. 1984 Minn.Laws ch. 547 §§ 5, 6. For all other causes of action, as before, state pensions continue to be beyond the courts’ reach. The 1984 amendment is evidence of legislative intent to clarify the scope of the 1983 exemption language. The amendment specifies exceptions to section 352B.071 only for child support and maintenance and does not allow courts to consider pension benefits as marital property subject to apportionment. In light of the limited exemptions in 1984, to otherwise interpret an additional exception for marital property consideration would render the 1983 language exempting benefits from dissolution actions a nullity.
“As with all statutory construction analyses, our task is to give effect to the intent of the legislature.” Janssen v. Janssen, 331 N.W.2d 752, 755 (Minn.1983). I conclude the legislature intended to exempt state trooper pension benefits from consideration as marital property in dissolution actions under Minn.Stat. § 352B.071 (Supp.1983).
2. Those . cases which permit pension benefits to be divided as marital property are either distinguishable or superseded by subsequent legislation. Elliott v. Elliott, 274 N.W.2d 75 (Minn.1978) is distinguishable because it involves a private pension fund.
Firefighter and police pensions were held assignable for support and maintenance purposes and as marital property capable of division in DuBois v. DuBois, 335 N.W.2d 503 (Minn.1983) (St. Paul Fire Department Relief Association Pension Fund); Janssen, 331 N.W.2d at 752 (Minneapolis Police Pension Fund); Faus v. Faus, 319 N.W.2d 408 (Minn.1982) (Minneapolis Fire Department Pension Fund). No restriction on assignment of those pensions in dissolution actions existed when DuBois, Janssen and Fans were decided. In 1984, the legislature added exemptions from assignment in chapter 423A providing for police and firefighter relief:
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, none of the moneys, annuities, or other benefits provided by any police or salaried firefighter’s relief association shall be assignable in law or in equity, nor be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process, except as provided in section 518.-611.
1984 Minn.Laws ch. 547, § 13 (codified at Minn.Stat. § 423A.16 (1984)) (emphasis added). The only permitted exception regarding dissolution matters concerns support or maintenance payments.1
*883Similarly, Minn.Stat. § 69.62 regarding firefighters in cities of the first class was amended in 1984 to read:
No payment made or to be made by any fire department relief association in a city of the first class under the provisions of section 69.25 to any member of the pension roll shall be subject to judgment, garnishment, execution, or other legal process, except as provided in section 518.611; and no person entitled to this payment shall have the right to assign the same, nor shall the association have the authority to recognize any assignment or pay over any sum which has been assigned.
1984 Minn.Laws ch. 547, § 1. Again, the only exemption exception regards payment of maintenance and support. The statute does not permit such pensions to be assigned as marital property.2
3. Further support for exempting these benefits from marital property consideration is derived from the similar exempted treatment of federal social security benefits. It is well established future social security benefits are not property rights for consideration in the property division. See Taylor v. Taylor, 329 N.W.2d 795, 799 (Minn.1983); Elliott, 274 N.W.2d at 78 (consideration only as future income in determining maintenance award). In this matter, the trial court properly did not consider respondent’s anticipated social security in determining the property division.
Appellant, however, is not eligible for federal social security benefits. Minn.Stat. ch. 352B establishing state trooper retirement benefits is the state statutory counterpart to federal social security retirement benefits. To consider appellant’s retirement benefits in property division and ignore respondent’s retirement benefits would lead to an unjust result. The more proper property division here is allowing each party to retain their respective retirement benefits.
Although appellant was allowed to retain his pension benefits, the court improperly considered the benefits marital property and awarded respondent a disproportionately large lien on the homestead to equalize the property division. I would remand with instructions to reduce the lien by one-half the value of appellant’s pension benefits improperly included in respondent’s share.

. 1984 Minn.Laws ch. 547 amending chapter 423A added identical language excepting support and maintenance payments in other provisions exempting police and firefighters’ pensions. Minn.Stat. §§ 423.813 (police pension in cities of second class); 423.39 (police pensions in cities of third class); 423.61 (police pensions in cities of fourth class); 69.62 (firefighters’ retirement in cities of first class); 424.27 (firefighters’ retirement in cities of second class); 424A.02, subd. 6 (volunteer firefighters’ retirement). In addition to amending Minn.Stat. §§ 352B.071, the state trooper pension exemption provision involved here, and 353.15, exempting public employee retirement benefits, the same 1984 amendment similarly amended Minn.Stat. §§ 422A.24 exempting Minneapolis retirement allowances and 354.10, 354A.11 exempting teachers’ retirement benefits.

. In Faus, the court discussed Minn.Stat. § 69.-51 exempting payments by any relief association in chapter 69 involving police and fire department aid from "garnishment, execution or other legal process.” This particular provision was not amended in 1984 to include the exception under section 518.611 for support and maintenance. We are at a loss to explain why the legislature amended section 69.62 and not 69.51, especially in light of the extensive reach of 1984 Minn.Laws ch. 547. Since Faus involved Minneapolis Fire Department pension benefits, the court apparently erroneously applied section 69.51 instead of section 69.62 which specifically applies to exemption of fire department pension benefits in cities of the first class.