The Court of Appeals previously ruled in this case (Priest v. Priest, No. 2014-CA-000148-MR) holding Wife’s share of Husband’s military retirement “should be calculated based upon the DFSA, Section IV(c) as outlined in Poe v. Poe. 711 S.W.2d 849, 850 (Ky. App. 1986). The family court divided the military retirement benefit utilizing the hypothetical award formula set out in DFSA IV(c) pursuant to Poe. Wife again appealed arguing the family court incorrectly applied the DFSA formula.
The Court of Appeals only finds one error in the family court’s calculation, the cost of living adjustment, and reverses the family court “on this one calculation” and remands “for a correction to the court’s final award.” Interestingly, the Court of Appeals implores the Supreme Court to revisit the law as to military retirement stating “Given the final result of the current law upon the division of the marital assets of a retired veteran’s ex-spouse, we do not find the current application of Poe to be consistent with divorce law in Kentucky and implore the Kentucky Supreme Court to review the holding in Poe.”
Digested by Elizabeth M. Howell
