Summary
This Oklahoma Supreme Court opinion addresses whether a former spouse is entitled to a portion of a firefighter's deferred option Plan B pension benefits when the original divorce decree only awarded a share of Plan A benefits. The Court held that because the Plan B account was funded with Plan A benefits accrued during the marriage, it constitutes divisible marital property to the extent attributable to the marital years. Consequently, the former spouse is entitled to her pro-rata share of the Plan B funds, including accrued interest, as originally adjudicated in the divorce decree.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a portion of Husband's Plan B benefits, not specifically awarded in the divorce decree, is marital property belonging to Wife.
Holdings
- When a vested firefighter selects the Plan B option after a divorce is final and the divorce decree is silent as to the allocation of those funds, the Plan B account is divisible marital property to the extent that any funds in the account are attributable to the marital years.
- Wife is entitled to the interest that accrued on the funds owed to her in Husband's Plan B account.
Key quotations
“We hold that when a vested firefighter selects the Plan B option post‑divorce and the divorce decree does not specify the allocation of these funds, the Plan B account is divisible marital property to the extent that any funds in the account are attributable to the marital years.” (¶0)
“Pensions, contingent upon the occurrence or non‑occurrence of some future event, are valuable rights if the contingency has been acquired through joint efforts of the spouses -- to the extent that it has been acquired or enhanced during the marriage, and as such becomes jointly acquired property during the marriage.” (385 P.3d at 76)
Factual background
Husband and Wife were married from 1985 to 2010. The divorce decree awarded Wife 50% of Husband's Plan A retirement benefits earned during the marriage. In 2020 Husband retired and elected the Plan B deferred option, transferring the awarded Plan A funds into a Plan B account. Wife sought to enforce the decree to obtain her share of the Plan B account and accrued interest.
Procedural history
The divorce decree awarded Wife 50% of Husband's Plan A retirement benefits up to the filing date. Husband later elected Plan B after retirement. Wife sought enforcement of the decree to obtain a share of Plan B funds. The district court ruled for Wife; the Court of Civil Appeals reversed; the Supreme Court of Oklahoma granted certiorari.