C.A. 1st;
A149642

The First Appellate District reversed a judgment. The court held that a couple's legal separation did not deprive a spouse of “surviving spouse” retirement benefits when her husband later died.

Marianne Irvin and her late husband Richard obtained a judgment of legal separation a few months before his death. Notwithstanding the separation, the couple's agreement dividing their assets reflected Richard's intent that Marianne would receive the pension benefits available to a surviving spouse after his death. Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association Board of Retirement denied Marianne those benefits, concluding she was not Richard's “surviving spouse” for purposes of the governing statute as a result of the legal separation. In the absence of an applicable statutory definition for the term, the Board relied on the definition of “surviving spouse” found in the Probate Code.