Laurie Marie Helm v. Clayton Austin Helm

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided August 6, 2024·No. 57344-0·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed

Washington State

Court of Appeals

Division Two

August 6, 2024

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II

In the Matter of the Marriage of: No. 57344-0-II

LAURIE MARIE HELM, Respondent,

and UNPUBLISHED OPINION CLAYTON AUSTIN HELM, Appellant.

CHE, J. ⎯ Clayton Helm appeals the trial court’s entry of a new Qualified Domestic Relations Order Military (2022 QDRO).

Clayton1 is a retired member of the U.S. military. Clayton and Laurie Helm married on September 30, 2001. The marriage was dissolved on September 30, 2014. The decree of dissolution awarded Laurie half of the marital portion of Clayton’s military pension.

In 2015, the trial court entered an agreed Military Retired Pay Division Order (2015 order) directing distribution of Clayton’s disposable military retired pay. Clayton then retired from the military in 2019. In 2021, Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) determined the 2015 order did not support payments of Clayton’s disposable military retired pay

1 Because the parties share the same last name, we refer to the parties by their first names.

to Laurie. In 2022, Laurie moved under CR 60 for the trial court to enter a corrected order to resume her DFAS payments.

The trial court heard the motion and entered the 2022 QDRO, stating that it did not consider Laurie’s motion to be brought under CR 60, but nevertheless proceeding on the belief that it had jurisdiction to modify the 2015 order.

Clayton argues that the trial court erred in considering Laurie’s CR 60 motion. He asserts that the trial court further erred by modifying the 2015 order and entering the 2022 QDRO. And he contends that the 2022 QDRO incorrectly calculated his disposable military retired pay and the parties’ marital share of that pay, among other things. Both Clayton and Laurie request attorney fees on appeal.

We hold that (1) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in considering Laurie’s CR 60 motion, (2) the 2015 order was ambiguous, (3) the trial court modified the parties’ rights under the 2015 order when it issued the 2022 QDRO, (4) the 2022 QDRO contains a scrivener’s error regarding attorney fees, and (5) neither party is awarded attorney fees on appeal.

Because the 2015 order was ambiguous and the 2022 QDRO modified the parties’ rights under the 2015 order, we reverse and remand. On remand, the trial court should reopen the property distribution solely to calculate the distribution of Clayton’s disposable military retired pay. On remand, the trial court should also correct the scrivener’s error in the 2022 QDRO regarding attorney fees. And we deny both requests for appellate attorney fees.

FACTS

Clayton is a retired member of the U.S. military. Clayton and Laurie were married on September 30, 2001, and separated on July 17, 2012. At the time of the parties’ separation, Clayton held the paygrade of E-62 with 15.25 years of service, of which 4 years and 11 months were accrued before his marriage with Laurie.

I. DISSOLUTION AND INITIAL ORDERS Laurie filed for divorce on November 15, 2012. Clayton was promoted to E-7 on June 1, 2013. A Decree of Dissolution (dissolution decree) was entered on September 30, 2014. A. Relevant Dissolution Decree Awards Exhibit W of the dissolution decree stated that the marriage was 151 months long. It also provided that Laurie “shall receive half of the funds earned during the marriage in [Clayton’s] pension through the [military],” and that Laurie will receive Clayton’s military survivor benefits. Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 66.

In Exhibit H of the dissolution decree, Clayton was awarded all remaining funds in his military pension, if any, after Laurie was “awarded her share.” CP at 64. B. 2015 Order In 2015, the trial court entered the 2015 order, agreed upon and signed by both parties, which set forth the provisions for the distribution of Clayton’s military retired pay benefits.

2 E-6 signifies a paygrade, which is an administrative classification used primarily to standardize compensation across the military services. U.S. Military Rank Insignia, U.S. Dep’t of Defense, http://www.defense.gov/Resources/Insignia/ (last visited July 25, 2024).

Regarding the calculation of Laurie’s share of Clayton’s military pension, the trial court found

The marital portion of the uniformed services retired pay of [Clayton] (hereafter military pension or retired pay) is subject to marital property division. [Laurie] is entitled to a share of [Clayton’s] military retirement benefits, as set out in the Decree. [Laurie’s] entitlement to retired pay accrues upon the retirement of [Clayton]. The remaining portion of [Clayton’s] military retired pay is the sole and separate property of [Clayton].

[F]or the purposes of calculating the marital portion, the parties were married on September 30, 2001 and separated on September 30, 2014.

CP at 7. The trial court ordered the following calculation to be made to determine Laurie’s share:

The former spouse is awarded a percentage of the member’s disposable military retired pay, to be computed by multiplying 50 [percent] times a fraction, the numerator of which is 151 months of marriage during the member’s creditable military service, divided by the member’s total number of months of creditable military service.

CP at 8.

Disposable military retired pay is a member’s total monthly retired pay (gross pay)

entitlement minus authorized deductions.3 However, the 2015 order did not specify when the pension was to be divided in half nor the specific formula that should be used to calculate Clayton’s disposable retired pay.

3 “Former Spouse Payments From Retired Pay” Summary of Major Changes, U.S. Dep’t of Defense, Volume 7B, Ch. 29, (2021), https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents /fmr/archive/07barch/07b_29_Jun21.pdf

Based on the above provisions, Laurie’s share is calculated using the following formula:

50 percent x (151 months of marriage/Clayton’s total months of creditable military service) x Disposable Retired Pay.4

See CP at 8.

In determining Clayton’s “Disposable Retired Pay for the purpose of calculating the amount due to be paid to [Laurie],” the 2015 order specified that

[Clayton] shall be deemed to have retired as an E7 Master Sergeant with 20 years of creditable military service (including any statutory increases in Disposable Retired Pay for a service member of that rank and number of years of service made between now and the date of his actual retirement, irrespective of his actual rank or years of creditable service at retirement).

CP at 8.

The parties further agreed that Laurie “shall be covered by the Survivor Benefit Plan . . .

regardless of the remarriage of [Clayton]. [Laurie] shall receive Survivor Benefit Plan protections at the rate required to ensure the continuance of the amount to be received by [Laurie] from [Clayton’s military] pension in the event of [Clayton’s] death, not to exceed the maximum annuity allowed by law under the Survivor Benefit Plan.” CP at 8. Lastly, the 2015 order stated

(9) This court reserves jurisdiction to amend or modify the provisions of this order in light of comments received from (a) the Designated Agent, (b) another court of competent jurisdiction, or (c) any other organization or party, during the process of deciding whether this order will be accepted and honored by the Designated Agent.

(10) This court also reserves jurisdiction to amend, modify, or terminate the provisions of this order, even after it has been accepted or approved by the Designated Agent.

CP at 9-10.

4 The “/” in the formula signifies a fraction.

II. CR 60 PROCEEDINGS

On December 31, 2019, Clayton retired from the military with a total of 273 months of service. Laurie then began receiving a portion of Clayton’s retirement benefits from DFAS. Clayton disagreed with DFAS’s payment amount to Laurie and submitted a claim to DFAS, which caused DFAS to conduct an audit.

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