Frost v. Frost
| Decision Date | 11 May 1979 |
| Citation | 581 S.W.2d 582 |
| Parties | Marion Louise FROST, Appellant, v. William H. FROST, Appellee. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
C. B. Creech, Creech, Hogg & Howell, Ashland, for appellant.
Charles M. Daniels, County Atty., Greenup, for appellee.
Before GANT, HAYES and HOWARD, JJ.
Marion and William Frost were married thirty-five years. At the time of dissolution of their marriage their ages were respectively, fifty-two and fifty-three. During most of the marriage, William had been a railway employee. Marion had occasionally worked as a science teacher, but could obtain only emergency certificates as she does not have the credits in education which the state requires for teacher certification.
Upon dissolution, Marion was awarded, in addition to four years of maintenance, various items worth several thousand dollars, three years of use of the family home and one-half the equity to be derived from the sale of the home at the end of that period.
She now appeals from the division of property. Her main allegation of error is that in view of the fact that the tangible marital estate was relatively small and that William's pension and annuity rights had been accrued entirely during the marriage, that she should have been awarded some interest in those future rights.
This court would willingly accept her contention that William's future retirement benefits should be treated as marital property, but we are prevented from doing so by a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court.
Because William is a railroad employee, his pension and annuity plan is governed by the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, 45 U.S.C. § 228a Et seq. Section 228e of the Act provides that a former spouse has no direct entitlement to benefits if the marriage has been terminated before benefits begin. Section 231m provides that:
Notwithstanding any other law of the United States, or of any State, territory, or the District of Columbia, no annuity or supplemental annuity shall be assignable or be subject to any tax or to garnishment, attachment, or other legal process under any circumstances whatsoever, nor shall the payment thereof be anticipated: Provided, however, That the provisions of this section shall not operate to exclude the amount of any supplemental annuity paid to an individual under section 2(b) of this Act (45 USCS § 231a(b)) from income taxable pursuant to the Federal income tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. (Citations omitted).
A majority of the United States Supreme Court in Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo, --- U.S. ----, 99 S.Ct. 802, 59 L.Ed.2d 1 (1979) have now held that this exemption from process extends to division and assignment of benefits under state dissolution of marriage schemes. (The court made clear that while a pensioner's rights cannot be directly assigned, it is permissible to make awards of maintenance and child support which take account of those funds as constituting all or part of the obligor's ability to pay.) This interpretation of the Railroad Retirement Act is, of course, binding upon us. The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution dictates that the provision of the Railroad Retirement Act must prevail over any conflicting provisions of Kentucky law. Thus we must hold that the trial court did not err in its refusal to consider William's future benefits, but we caution readers of this decision that the result was dictated by the atypical circumstance of coverage by the Railroad Retirement Act.
Marion also contends that the trial court's limitation of her maintenance award to four years at $450.00 per month constitutes an abuse of discretion.
Kentucky has established the following statutory guidelines for trial courts in determining the appropriateness, amount, and duration of maintenance:
403.200. Maintenance Court may grant order for either spouse. (1) In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or legal separation, or a proceeding for maintenance following dissolution of a marriage by a court which lacked personal jurisdiction over the absent spouse, the court may grant a maintenance order for either spouse only if it finds that the spouse seeking maintenance:
(a) Lacks sufficient property, including marital property apportioned to him, to provide for his reasonable needs; and (b) Is unable to support himself through appropriate employment or is the custodian of a child whose condition or circumstances make it appropriate that the custodian not be required to seek employment outside the home.
(2) The maintenance order shall be in such amounts and for such periods of time as the court deems just, and after considering...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Russell v. Russell
...was contributory or noncontributory, and whether it was based on federal statutes, such as the Railroad Retirement Act. Frost v. Frost, Ky.App., 581 S.W.2d 582 (1979); Ratcliff v. Ratcliff, Ky.App., 586 S.W.2d 292 (1979); Foster v. Foster, Ky.App., 589 S.W.2d 223 (1979); and Beggs v. Beggs,......
-
Strauss v. Strauss
...Cal.3d 437, 573 P.2d 41, 51-52, 143 Cal.Rptr. 139, 149-50 (1978); Walter v. Walter, 464 So.2d 538, 539 (Fla.1985); Frost v. Frost, 581 S.W.2d 582, 584-85 (Ky.Ct.App.1979); Johnson v. Steel, Inc., 94 Nev. 483, 581 P.2d 860, 863-64 (1978); Herring v. Herring, 286 S.C. 447, 335 S.E.2d 366, 368......
-
Holman v. Holman, 1999-SC-0525-DG.
...Railroad retirement benefits: Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo, 439 U.S. 572, 583-87, 99 S.Ct. 802, 809-11, 59 L.Ed.2d 1 (1979); Frost v. Frost, Ky.App., 581 S.W.2d 582 (1979). Any doubt as to whether KRS 67A.620 was intended by the General Assembly to shield a firefighter's retirement annuity from......
-
Robinette v. Robinette, 86-CA-1559-MR
...all the statutorily proscribed factors. Carter v. Carter, supra; Combs v. Combs, Ky.App., 622 S.W.2d 679 (1981); Frost v. Frost, Ky.App., 581 S.W.2d 582 (1979); and Atwood v. Atwood, Ky.App., 643 S.W.2d 263 Likewise, the court's amount of child support constitutes an abuse of discretion. KR......