Shown v. Shown, No. 2013-CA-001523-MR (Ky. Ct. App. 2015)
Social Security Offset - Consideration Under KRS 403.190(1) When Dividing KTRS Pensions In Divorce

Rendered: December 18, 2015
To Be Published
Opinion Vacating and Remanding

Author’s Note: Thank you Tom Pugh (of Pugh & Roach, Attorneys at Law, PLLC) for sharing this case with me the day it came out - actually that very morning. A holiday gift from a fellow nerd. Just what I always wanted, and it fits me perfectly!!

Just in time for the holidays… the case that keeps on giving. As you will see, Shown has been around the block once before, all the way up to the Kentucky Supreme Court, in fact. In the first round, the landmark Supreme Court decision resulted in Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System (KTRS) pensions being considered marital property subject to equitable division in divorce (in certain statutorily proscribed circumstances). This time around, the Kentucky Court of Appeals has followed suit by issuing an equally momentous decision with regard to KTRS pensions, but this time concerning the applicability of Social Security offset when dividing KTRS benefits in divorce.

I have felt your distress from my lack of monthly posts since February. I have felt your yearning for EZ QDRO Law Updates. I have felt your hunger for more more more. Alas, I have been juggling multiple QDRO balls lately, and let this one drop. Before I leave for my QDRO sabbatical (I bet those two words have never met before in the same sentence), I wanted to post a few recent case law updates for Kentucky and a legislative update for Ohio. Of note, the 12th District Ohio Court of Appeals & Supreme Court of Ohio have been QDRO-quiet so far this year.

Brown v. Brown, NO. 2013-CA-001515-MR (Ky. App. 2015)
When a Decree Utilizes the Deferred Distribution Method (via QDRO or Similar Court Order), Post-Retirement Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) to the “Marital Portion” of a Pension are Subject to Equitable Division

Rendered: January 16, 2015
To Be Published
Opinion Affirming

I will not hide my enthusiasm for the Kentucky Court of Appeals’ recent opinion in Brown. Anyone who has ever utilized my services, or heard me speak at a CLE or other event, knows exactly where I stand on this issue. COLAs are a ‘negotiable’ marital asset in divorce, just like any other marital asset.  Meaning, if you have not negotiated the distribution of COLAs in a divorce or dissolution action, you have not fully divided the pension.