Gross v. Wilson

424 P.3d 390
CourtAlaska Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 27, 2018
Docket7262 S-16302
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 424 P.3d 390 (Gross v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alaska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gross v. Wilson, 424 P.3d 390 (Ala. 2018).

Opinion

STOWERS, Chief Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

Robert Gross and Dawn Wilson married in August 1992, and Gross filed for divorce in August 2012. The parties resolved the issues raised in the divorce action in a written settlement agreement incorporated into a divorce decree in March 2014. The final agreement provided that Wilson was to receive an amount equal to 50% of the military retirement and Veterans Administration (VA) disability pay that Gross received for his service in the United States Coast Guard (USCG). A little over a year later Gross reduced his monthly payment to Wilson by an amount equal to 50% of his disability payments, and Wilson filed a motion for enforcement of the terms of the settlement agreement. Gross opposed the motion, arguing that the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA) 1 exempts VA payments from allocation during divorce as marital property;

*393 he also argued that he had misunderstood the agreement. The superior court ordered Gross to resume payments pursuant to the agreement and to pay arrearages. Gross appeals. We affirm the superior court's order because Gross had no procedural basis for bringing a collateral attack on his divorce decree.

II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

A. Facts

Gross enlisted in the USCG in February 1987. Gross and Wilson married in August 1992, and they have four children. Gross filed for divorce in August 2012. In a November 2013 hearing before a magistrate, after a full day of mediation with retired Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Collins, the parties and their attorneys reached an agreement; both attorneys and Judge Collins described on record how the parties planned to address Gross's military retirement benefits. Both attorneys explained that Gross's retirement payments, including disability payments, would be divided 50/50 between the parties. Judge Collins also articulated the parties' understanding and agreement:

[T]he final language of the agreement that the parties anticipate submitting to the court will provide that, in the future, should Mr. Gross elect to take any action that might reduce what would otherwise be retirement benefits for which Ms. Wilson would have a claim, he will be responsible for reimbursing her. As Your Honor may know, disability payments are viewed as separate, not marital property, by the federal government; but [the] divorce court, in its equitable jurisdiction, can ensure that there's fairness. The parties today tried to reach a fair result, such that they have, in essence, agreed to divide the retirement, which includes disability, which is received in lieu of what would have otherwise been retirement, on a 50-50 basis.

At a second hearing, held in December 2013, Gross indicated through his attorney that he was prepared to go forward as long as the property settlement agreement reached with Judge Collins's assistance in November was not reopened. When Gross was given an opportunity to comment, he responded, "I'm good."

The court issued a Judgment and Decree of Divorce in March 2014. The divorce decree incorporated the parties' Child Custody, Child Support and Property Settlement Agreement signed on the same day. When the settlement agreement was placed on the record, both Gross and Wilson testified that they were familiar with the terms of the agreement and were satisfied with it. Paragraph 11 of the settlement agreement required Gross to pay Wilson $888.22 per month based on his USCG retirement program:

[Wilson] shall receive 50% of the total USCG military retirement monthly pay (sometimes referred to as the aggregate of the retirement and disability pay) that [Gross] receives from the USCG after the SBP premium for the survivor benefit covering [Wilson] has been paid .... The parties understand that the USCG will directly pay [Wilson] 50% of what it defines as the "disposable retirement pay (DRP)." However, this DRP figure does not include the VA compensation/disability monies received by [Gross]. [Gross] therefore agrees to pay to [Wilson] on the first day of each and every month throughout his lifetime an amount, over and above the 50% portion of the DRP paid to her by the USCG, sufficient to accomplish [Wilson's] receipt of fifty percent (50%) of the total USCG monthly military retirement pay (including the VA Comp. and/ or disability portions) reduced only by payment of the SBP premium. ... If [Gross] or the USCG does anything that results in a reduction of [Wilson's] above-described share of the military retirement, [Gross] will reimburse [Wilson] for the reduction. [ 2 ]

B. Proceedings

In May 2015 Wilson, now proceeding pro se, filed a motion for enforcement of the *394 terms of the March 2014 settlement agreement. She stated that Gross had made appropriate retirement payments pursuant to the parties' settlement agreement until May 2015, but that he then unilaterally reduced the amount of monthly retirement benefits by $170, citing statutes pertaining to the division of disability pay. Gross opposed the motion and filed a cross-motion for an order denying enforcement of the "claim" for disability, stating that it would be a violation of the USFSPA because that statute "exempts [VA] payments from allocation during divorce as marital property." Gross also attached an affidavit declaring that he did not know how paragraph 11 was included in the settlement agreement and that he had not understood the settlement agreement to divide disability payments.

The court referred the cross-motions to a superior court special master. Neither party requested an evidentiary hearing, and after oral argument the master issued his report and recommendation to the superior court. The master recommended that Wilson's motion be granted and Gross's denied. Gross filed objections to the report, and the superior court issued an order granting Wilson's motion to enforce.

First, the superior court found that "[n]owhere in [Wilson's] motion or in the record of the case is it stated [Gross] was required to make payments from his disability retirement pay to [Wilson]." The court explained that what it "understood from what is contained in the record of the hearings ... is that the parties negotiated a settlement agreement that did not include [Gross's] disability retirement pay as a direct source for [Gross's] monthly payments to [Wilson]." The court also found there was no order directing that the USCG pay Wilson from Gross's disability pay, nor was there any statement that Wilson was to receive any portion of Gross's disability pay. The court reasoned that Gross's aggregate disability and retirement pay was but a means through which the parties arrived at a fair payment amount as part of what they agreed was a fair and equitable allocation of assets and debt.

Second, the superior court found that the United States Supreme Court's decision in Mansell v. Mansell 3 regarding the USFSPA and our decision in Clauson v. Clauson

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Bluebook (online)
424 P.3d 390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gross-v-wilson-alaska-2018.