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Richardson v. Richardson

Order awarding plaintiff 100% of the present value of ex-husband's retirement pension affirmed because award was not in the nature of equitable distribution but designed to compensate plaintiff for losses incurred as a result of husband's failure to comply with prior orders.

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� 1 This appeal arises from contempt proceedings following the 1996 bifurcated divorce, in Chester County, *fn2 of appellant Kenneth Richardson and appellee Ann L. Richardson. *fn3 The parties married in 1975 and separated in 1994. They are the parents of one emancipated child, born in 1978. Husband-appellant remarried shortly after the divorce.

� 2 A special master held a hearing on economic issues and issued a recommendation in May, 1997. In an order of May 20, 1997, the court adopted the master’s recommendations concerning the division of real estate, retirement accounts, automobiles, a trailer, a boat, household furnishings, bank accounts and cash. That part of the order is not in issue in this appeal. The court’s order for equitable distribution also awarded wife-appellee sixty per cent of husband-appellant’s DuPont Savings and Investment Plan (SIP); sixty per cent of that part of appellant’s pension from DuPont that had been acquired during the marriage, three years coverage of medical insurance, plus $2,750 per month in alimony for an indefinite period, modifiable and terminable upon a substantial change in circumstances. The SIP division and the award of part of the pension required the court to issue a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO), *fn4 which had not yet been signed by husband-appellant at the time this appeal was filed. Husband-appellant did not appeal the order of May 20, 1997.

� 3 Due to husband-appellant’s general lack of compliance, including dispute over the disposition of marital real property, wife-appellee filed a petition for civil contempt and special relief on August 5, 1997. In a subsequent petition, filed September 16, 1997, she stated that she had information that appellant was about to leave his employment at DuPont, and would receive a “buy-out” in lieu of pension benefits. Wife-appellee asked the court to freeze husband-appellant’s SIP and pension funds until he complied with the order for him to sign the QDROs.

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