Satterfield v. Satterfield http://opinions.kycourts.net/coa/2019-CA-000011.pdf The parties were divorced in 1998, with the decree of dissolution of marriage requiring Husband to execute a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (“QDRO”) within 30 days of the date of entry of the decree. Husband did not execute the QDRO, of which Wife did not become aware until 20 years later,...Read More

Tager v. Tager Circuit Court referred disputed issue in a dissolution action, including division of marital assets, to Domestic Relations Commissioner (“DRC”). DRC issued a report finding Husband qualified for military retirement benefits, which the parties stipulated were partially marital. Circuit Court adopted DRC’s report and issued a limited decree of dissolution, which did not...Read More

Baker v. Baker   Parties divorced in 1996, entering into a settlement agreement, which was incorporated into the decree of dissolution of marriage. Husband owned a Railroad Retirement Plan (“the Plan”) from his employment at CSX Transportation. A provision of the settlement agreement provided for Wife receiving half of the Plan from the date of...Read More

PRIEST V. PRIEST 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...Read More

A state court may not order a veteran to indemnify a divorced spouse for the loss in the divorced spouse’s portion of the veteran’s retirement pay caused by the veteran’s waiver of retirement pay to receive service-related disability benefits. Howell v. Howell opinion analysis is here.Read More

KENNETH KIRILENKO V. CHERRYL KIRILENKO Husband and Wife moved to Kentucky shortly after Husband began receiving disability and retirement benefits from his Connecticut employer. Several years later, Wife filed a divorce action in Kentucky. Under Kentucky law, Husband’s disability benefits are non-marital, while under Connecticut law they may be marital. The trial court found that...Read More

SHOWN V. SHOWN In a previous related case, the Supreme Court held that Husband’s Kentucky teacher’s retirement account was considered marital property under KRS 403.190(1). Shown v. Shown, 233 S.W.3d 718 (Ky. 2007). Subsequently, the trial court divided the marital portion of husband’s retirement without consideration of the complex financial calculations used to make the...Read More

RUTH ANN SADLER V. BARBARA LOIS VAN BUSKIRK Husband died many years after his divorce, but despite his remarriage, he had not removed his former wife as the beneficiary of his IRA. In the parties’ marital settlement agreement they had agreed to make “no claim upon any interest owned by the other, now or in...Read More

Kirilenko v. Kirilenko In a KY divorce, the trial court erred in applying KY law to characterize CN state disability retirement benefits as nonmarital property. Instead, the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws “most significant relationship”  test should be applied and CN law is more appropriate.Read More

BROWN V. BROWN In divorce proceedings, husband had a civil pension. The marital portion was divided equally between the parties using the deferred distribution method. Husband argued that the award should not include the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) he received after the divorce. The Circuit Court concluded wife was entitled to the COLAs corresponding to her...Read More