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Stoddard v. Stoddard

Husband Granted QDRO Modification to Reduce Wife's Benefit to Proportionate 41.25% Share

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*1  In this matter, the court faces a nettlesome query: can a qualified domestic relations order (“QDRO”), which describes the procedure for determining an equitable share of a pension, be modified if the text of the QDRO specifies a specific dollar value for the nonparticipant’s interest? The facts in this matter are not disputed. In their settlement and opting out Agreement, this couple agreed that the husband’s pension was “a martial asset” and that “it shall be allocated according to established formulas.” The parties further agreed that the wife was entitled to a one-half share of the pension multiplied by a coverture fraction based on 24.75 years of marriage and further that the husband, the participant, had been enrolled in the plan for 30 years. While the agreement specifies the duration of the couple’s marriage and the duration of the husband participation in the pension plan, the agreement does not contain the arithmetic calculation that would be utilized under the Majauskas formula for calculating the wife’s marital share of the pension. Majauskas v. Majauskas, 61 NY2d 481, 486 (1984).1Instead, the agreement provided that the husband was receiving a benefit of $4,494.59 and the agreement stated: “the parties agree that the wife’s share shall be $1,853 per month.” The agreement also anticipated future changes in the payments under the plan. It provided that if the plan were amended “any such change shall inure to the benefit” of both former spouses and the benefit would be shared in “equal proportions.” The agreement concluded by stating that the “wife shall benefit in the same proportion as the husband from any amendments to the plan.” The agreement did not specify what would occur if an amendment in the plan inured to the detriment of either party.The subsequent filed QDRO provided that the annual payment for which the husband was eligible was $4,494.59. The QDRO added that the “the alternate payee shall be allocated

*2

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