Schneeman v. Schneeman

• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court
• Writing for the Court: KELLY
• Citation: Schneeman v. Schneeman, 615 A.2d 1369, 420 Pa.Super. 65 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1992)
• Decision Date: 13 November 1992
• Parties: Richard J. SCHNEEMAN, Appellant, v. Patricia Ann SCHNEEMAN, Appellee.

Page 1369

615 A.2d 1369

420 Pa.Super. 65

Richard J. SCHNEEMAN, Appellant, v. Patricia Ann SCHNEEMAN, Appellee.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Aug. 26, 1992.

Filed Nov. 13, 1992.

Dale Fouse, Asst. Dist. Atty., Aliquippa, for appellant.

Robert J. Taylor, Ambridge, for appellee.

Before MONTEMURO, KELLY and BROSKY, JJ.

KELLY, Judge:

In this appeal, we are again called upon to determine whether part of a state employee's pension is exempt from marital property because the employee did not contribute to the Social Security system. We conclude that the principles of Cornbleth v. Cornbleth, 397 Pa.Super. 421, 580 A.2d 369 (1990), allocatur denied, 526 Pa. 648, 585 A.2d 468 (1991), are applicable to this case and that, therefore, the portion of the state employee's pension which is "in lieu of Social Security" is exempt from marital property. We also discuss four other equitable distribution and alimony issues raised by the parties. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Beginning with the trial court's factual findings, the background of this case may be summarized as follows.

"1. The parties were married on October 17, 1964 and separated permanently on or about June 1, 1986. Both parties are in their late 40's and are in good health.

"2. At the time of the separation, the parties were the owners of a residence (the "Marital Residence") located on Blackwood Road in Chippewa Township. The Marital Residence was sold on November 1, 1988, and the net proceeds were deposited into and remain in an interest-bearing escrow account. At the time of the second hearing that account had a balance of approximately $30,000. The parties have agreed on the record that that account, including accrued interest, should be divided equally between them.

"3. The Wife lived in the Marital Residence from the date of the separation, June 1, 1986, to the date of its sale, November 1, 1988.

"4. The Husband made the mortgage payments for the Marital Residence until a support order was entered in October of 1986. Although the support order appeared to contemplate the Wife's making the mortgage payments thereafter, the payments were not made and, in December of 1986, the mortgagee threatened foreclosure.

"5. In response to the threatened foreclosure, the Husband brought the mortgage current and obtained an agreement from the mortgagee whereby the mortgagee would accept interest only on condition that the Marital Residence be listed and sold. At the same time the Husband secured an order of court which authorized him to pay the interest directly to the mortgagee, to pay the balance to Domestic Relations, and thereby to received credit for the support payment in full.

"6. On March 10, 1988, when the mortgagee would no longer accept interest payments only, the Husband procured an order of court authorizing him to pay the interest and some principal directly to the mortgagee and the balance to Domestic Relations, and thereby to receive credit for the full support payment.

"7. During the time she remained in the Marital Residence, the Wife contributed toward the payment of the mortgage under the court orders above referred to. She also did the routine maintenance and yard work and kept the Marital Residence in good and saleable condition.

"8. The Wife's mother gave the parties $4,000 when they purchased a home in Erie early in their marriage and another $4,000 when they purchased the Marital Residence. The mother has never been repaid for those cash gifts.

"9. At the time of the separation the Husband took with him a 1985 Cutlass titled in his name and left behind a 1975 Cutlass titled in the Wife's name. He also left behind a Honda motorcycle which was operable and which the Wife subsequently sold.

"10. When the Husband left he took with him only his automobile and a few tools. He left the house fully furnished and, except for a cedar chest which the Husband took just before the Marital Residence was sold, all of the household furniture, furnishings, and appliances have remained in the possession of the Wife.

"11. The Wife sold a dining room suit for $500, and other items of furniture, furnishings, and appliances were discarded as unusable. The items which remain in the Wife's possession have only nominal value.

"12. At or just prior to the time of separation the parties were the owners of [a] savings account at Dollar Savings Bank having a balance of $3,000. The Husband withdrew a substantial part of that account in the days or weeks prior to the separation and the balance of it at separation. The $3,000 was marital property.

"13. The parties were the owners of a joint account with the Westinghouse Federal Credit Union having a balance of $850 at separation. This money was kept and used to pay insurance premiums and other joint expenses and need not be accounted for by either party.

"14. At the time of the separation the parties were the owners of United States savings bonds having a value of $1,700. The Husband took and cashed in those bonds. The bonds were marital property.

"15. In the latter years of the marriage the Wife was employed as a teacher's aide with the Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit. She will receive a pension at the time of her retirement. The present value of her pension rights as of the date of separation was $2,270. It is a marital asset.

"16. At the time of the separation the Wife was in possession of $700 in cash which she kept in the home. That cash was a marital asset.

"17. The Wife's name appears with her mother's on a joint savings account at Equibank. All deposits into that account have been made by the mother and the mother is the owner of it. No portion of the account is marital property.

"18. The Husband is a Pennsylvania state trooper, and began his employment on July 11, 1968. He has a vested pension and is eligible (but not required) to retire on January 1, 1992.

"19. The parties have agreed on the record that the marital portion of the Husband's pension should be divided equally between them.

"20. By stipulation of the parties, the Husband's pension has a present value of $93,640.

"21. The parties were married and living together while the Husband was employed with the state police from July 11, 1968, his date of hire, to June 1, 1986, the separation date. Rounded off to the nearest whole month, this was a period of just one month less than 18 years, a total of 215 months.

For purposes of preparing and entering a Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO"), the numerator in the coverture fraction will be 215.

"22. The denominator in the coverture fraction to be utilized in a QDRO is the total number of months, rounded off to the nearest whole month, in which the Husband shall have been employed with the state police at the time of his retirement. The denominator is at yet unknown.

"23. Throughout the time the parties were married and lived together, the Wife was mother to the parties' two children and a homemaker. Her performance as wife, mother, and homemaker was excellent.

"24. The Wife has worked during the marriage. She has been a full time dentist's receptionist and an officer manager at Dahlkempers, each for a relatively short period of time. She began working as a teacher's aide in 1984, a job requiring no specialized training, and at the time of the second hearing her net pay for each biweekly pay period was $305.

"25. While the Wife can probably remain employed in her present job until she retires, the income from it will never be substantial. Because of her lack of educational background she has no opportunity to advance from her present position.

"26. One of the principal assets of this marriage is the Husband's "human capital," his earning capacity as a successful career state police officer. The Husband's earning capacity is and will remain nearly three times greater than the Wife's.

"27. By her contributions as wife and homemaker, the Wife has contributed substantially to the Husband's "human capital."

"28. During the last three months of the marriage, the Husband was seeing another woman, and he candidly admitted that he moved in with her when he left the Wife on June 1, 1986. The Husband has been guilty of marital misconduct.

"29. Following the separation, and particularly in the weeks leading up to her moving into her new home, the Wife has had to borrow money from members of her family and has incurred debts totaling approximately $11,000. To pay this back will require her to use a portion of the funds to be set apart to her in equitable distribution, leaving a lesser amount to invest for income purposes.

"30. While the Wife's needs are modest, they exceed her earnings, even when we take into account what she may earn by investing the funds received in equitable distribution.

"31. The Wife has been billed for legal services relating to the divorce and its ancillary proceedings which totaled $6,323 at the time of the second hearing. The fee is a reasonable one and the Wife has need for those services. However, because of the cash being distributed to her in equitable distribution, she is not in "actual need" of counsel fees from the Husband."

Trial Court Opinion, November 9, 1990, at 2-8.

Based upon those findings, in its decree nisi, the trial court divorced the parties and further ordered and decreed that the Wife (appellee) receive fifty percent of the marital share of the Husband's (appellant's) State Employees' Retirement System Pension. The marital share was ordered to be computed by dividing 215 (the number of months which the pension was funded during the marriage) by the total number of months which the pension would be funded, including both marital and extra-marital time periods.

Moreover, appellant was ordered to designate appellee as beneficiary of one-third of the death benefits from the State Employees' Retirement System. Thereafter, he would owe appellee no...