Law Lessons from QUATSE v. QUATSE, Appellate Division, A-1442-07T3, September 3, 2008:

Picture by Alex E. Proimos

The pension benefits of an employed spouse are subject to equitable distribution when they are related to the joint efforts of the parties. Thus, a divorced spouse is entitled to a share of pension benefits from employment during the years of the marriage. Faulkner v. Faulkner, 361 N.J. Super. 158, 165 [(App. Div.), certif. denied, 178 N.J. 28 (2003)].

The coverture fraction is generally “the appropriate tool to determine an appropriate allocation of spouses’ respective interests in a pension.” The numerator is the number of years of service during the marriage and the denominator is the total years of service. Id. at 165-66.

Assets subject to equitable distribution are those “legally and beneficially acquired by them or either of them during the marriage.” N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23h; Painter v. Painter, 65 N.J. 196, 217-18 (1974). Thus, as a matter of law, a party to a divorce is entitled to seek equitable distribution only with respect to property acquired during the marriage. With respect to the pension benefits of one spouse, the entitlement of the other spouse is determined thusly:

The coverture fraction is the proportion of years worked during the marriage to total number of years worked. The numerator represents that portion of the benefit, enhanced or not, that was “legally and beneficially acquired” during the marriage. The denominator is the total number of years worked up to retirement. The coverture fraction insures that the equitable distribution pot includes only that portion of the working spouse’s labor which constitutes a “shared enterprise.” It also assures the employee spouse the benefits of his or her pre or post coverture labors.

[Eisenhardt v. Eisenhardt, 325 N.J. Super. 576, 580-81 (App. Div. 1999).]

Therefore, “[t]he longer the employee spouse works, the larger the denominator, thus reducing the non-employee spouse’s percentage share and assuring the employee spouse the benefits of his or her post-divorce labors. In general, ‘the non-employee spouse will receive a decreasing percentage of an increasing benefit.’” Reinbold v. Reinbold, 311 N.J. Super. 460, 466-67 (App. Div. 1998) (quoting William M. Troyan, Pension Evaluation and Equitable Distribution, 10 Fam. L. Rep. 3001, 3007 (1983)).

NOTE: My legal and mediation services are offered to Polish-speaking and other clients in Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Essex, Hudson, Bergen, and Morris counties in NJ.

Technorati Tags: coverture-fraction, equitable-distribution, pension, and easy technorati tags for wordpress plugin