ERROR FOR LOWER COURT TO REWRITE PARTIES' SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT IN RULING
THAT WIFE WAS ENTITLED TO IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO THE FUNDS OF FORMER HUSBAND'S
RETIREMENT PLAN WHERE AGREEMENT ONLY REQUIRED TRANSFER BY QDRO AND THE RULES OF
THE PLAN DID NOT PROVIDE FOR IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO THE FUNDS.
The
parties entered into a Settlement Agreement pursuant to which the Wife was
entitled to $270,000 by way of Qualified Domestic Relations Order
("QDRO") from the Husband's retirement plan. The Wife was also
entitled to $140,000 by way of QDRO from Husband's 401(k). The agreement
further stated that the marital house was to be sold but up until such time as
the Wife received "the first funds" from either of the retirement
plans, the Husband would pay the utilities on the home. Thereafter, once the
Wife received "the first funds," she would be responsible for the
utilities until the house was sold. The exact language of the Agreement was:
"Upon transfer to the Wife of the first funds in either paragraph a [the
retirement plan] or b [the 401(k)], the Wife shall be responsible for the
payment of all utilities…." Some months later, the Wife petitioned the
court after learning that access to the retirement plan was contingent upon a
triggering event (retirement, disability, and separation from service).
Although she had received full payment from the 401(k), she was not allowed to
access the $270,000 because of the plan's rules. The Wife argued that the
parties intended for her to receive all of the funds immediately. The Husband
explained that per the rules of the Retirement Plan, the Wife would not be able
to access the money until the triggering event and a portion of the plan was
not even transferable through a QDRO. The trial court relied heavily on the
above quoted language regarding the payment of utilities to find that the
parties expected the Wife to receive all of the funds immediately. The court
granted the Wife, among other things, the remaining balance of the 401(k), to
satisfy the remaining debt. The District Court reversed:
"Although
a trial court may be motivated to do what it considers to be fair and
equitable, it retains no jurisdiction to rewrite the terms of a marital
settlement agreement. Under the guise of enforcing the agreement, the trial
court here impermissibly modified it."
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