Rogers v. Rogers

401 So. 2d 406
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 13, 1981
Docket14083
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 401 So. 2d 406 (Rogers v. Rogers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rogers v. Rogers, 401 So. 2d 406 (La. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

401 So.2d 406 (1981)

Michelle R. ROGERS
v.
Irving F. ROGERS.

No. 14083.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

April 13, 1981.

John A. Exnicios, New Orleans, for plaintiff and appellee.

*407 Roger I. Dallam, Gretna, for defendant and appellant.

Before LOTTINGER, EDWARDS and PONDER, JJ.

LOTTINGER, Judge.

Is a husband's retirement pay from the United States Army community or separate property? This is the issue we face on appeal. The issue is not new to Louisiana jurisprudence, but the two circuits previously addressing the question have taken opposite positions. The Third Circuit says retirement pay is community property. Swope v. Mitchell, 324 So.2d 461 (La. App.3rd Cir. 1975) (Marine Corps retirement); Moon v. Moon, 345 So.2d 168 (La. App.3rd Cir. 1977), writs refused, 347 So.2d 250 (La. 1977) (Air Force retirement). The Second Circuit says it is not. DeDon v. DeDon, 390 So.2d 937 (La.App. 2nd Cir. 1980) (Air Force retirement), writs granted February 6, 1981.

The facts are not in dispute and were stipulated basically as follows:

Irving F. Rogers and Michelle R. Naget Rogers were married on February 5, 1955 in Braquys, Meuse, France. Mr. Rogers, then a member of the United States Army stationed in France, was a Louisiana domiciliary at the time of the marriage serving with the U. S. Forces. He has never changed his Louisiana domicile.

After a number of transfers over the next 10 years, Mr. Rogers retired from the United States Army in October, 1965, after completing 20 years of service. He was recalled in September, 1966, and was discharged a second time in September, 1968. The parties continued to reside together as man and wife until July, 1976, at which time they became physically separated. Mr. Rogers returned to Louisiana and Mrs. Rogers stayed in Maryland where she has since resided.

A judgment of divorce was granted on August 22, 1978, based upon the parties living separate and apart for a period in excess of two years. During the entire period of the marriage the domicile of Mr. Rogers was located in Louisiana and domicile is not at issue in this case. There was no premarital agreement entered into prior to the marriage.

THE TRIAL COURT DECISION

After reviewing the stipulated facts and the jurisprudence of Louisiana and other states, the trial judge rendered judgment in favor of Mrs. Rogers, decreeing her to be the owner of 13/44 of each retirement check Mr. Rogers receives.[1] The trial court also determined that Mr. Rogers clears $440.00 per month and that Mrs. Rogers' share of the previous 23 months had not been paid. She was awarded $2,990.00 as a lump sum and was decreed to be owner of a 13/44 portion of every monthly payment made thereafter to Mr. Rogers.

SPECIFICATIONS OF ERROR

Mr. Rogers contends on appeal that the trial court erred in holding that retirement pay is community property and in refusing to refer the partition to a notary.

COMMUNITY PROPERTY

Mr. Rogers argues that military retirement benefits are provided by Congress under its power to raise and support an army. Art. I, Section 8, U. S. Const. He contends that such benefits are federal in nature and that "any conflicting state law must yield to the federal law under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution." Art. VI, Clause 2, U. S. Const. He cites with favor the recent United States Supreme Court case of Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo, 439 U.S. 572, 99 S.Ct. 802, 59 L.Ed.2d 1 (1979), which held that retirement benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S. *408 C.A. Section 231 et seq.) cannot be considered community property.

In Hisquierdo, the Supreme Court made abundantly clear the fact that the states, and not the federal government, have the "guiding hand" and "temporal control" over marriage and its incidents. 99 S.Ct. at 808. State family law precepts will be set aside under the supremacy clause only if Congress "has positively required by direct enactment that state law be pre-empted." Id. (emphasis added). For state family law to be pre-empted, it must conflict with the "express terms" of a congressional enactment and "sufficiently injure the objectives of the federal program." Id. 99 S.Ct. at 809. Under this type of analysis, the court determined that the anti-attachment and anti-anticipation section in the Railroad Retirement Act revealed an express congressional intent that railroad retirement benefits be paid only to the employee and not be divided upon termination of the marriage. 45 U.S.C.A. Section 231m.[2] "The critical terms here include a specified beneficiary protected by a flat prohibition against attachment and anticipation." Id.

Mr. Rogers contends that his retirement benefits are paid under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration. He notes that the laws regulating veterans' benefits contain a section almost identical to the section in the Railroad Retirement Act prohibiting assignment, attachment and anticipation. 38 U.S.C.A. Section 3103(a).[3] Under the stipulation of facts made by the parties in this case, there is no indication as to who pays the retirement benefits. The stipulation speaks only of military retirement pay. Mr. Rogers made no showing that he was entitled to veterans' benefits and produced no check stubs to show where his retirement pay comes from. He merely alleges on appeal that the retirement check is paid by the Veterans' Administration. However, as Mrs. Rogers points out and as our research confirms, the military retirement benefits such as those received by Mr. Rogers are not administered by the Veterans' Administration but by the Secretary of the Army. Numerous provisions dealing with military retirement pay for Army regulars and officers appear under Title 10 of the United States Code, which deals with the Armed Forces. Subtitle B of Title 10 concerns the U. S. Army. At least five chapters under Subtitle B of Title 10 relate to retirement requirements, grade and pay. Chapters 363, 365, 367, 369 and 371. Under Chapter 369, 10 U.S.C.A. Section 3966, the Secretary of the Army is required to maintain lists of names of retired officers and enlisted men. Chapter 371 of Title 10 deals with computation of retired pay for Army retirees.

On the other hand, matters handled by the Veterans' Administration are dealt with in Title 38 of the United States Code. The Veterans Administration handles veterans' disability and death compensation, veterans' pensions, veterans' insurance and other veterans' benefits. Significantly, none of the provisions concerning VA benefits in Title 38 is based upon a veteran's eligibility for retirement from the service in which he served. VA benefits, rather, are predicated upon the fact that a person served in the armed forces, not on the fact that a person served in the armed forces long enough to allow him to retire.

We find that the statutory scheme as outlined above shows clearly that military *409 retirement pay, as distinguished from veterans' benefits, is administered by the secretary of the branch of the service in which the retiree served. In this case, the benefits are administered by the Secretary of the Army. Of the statutes in Title 10, U.S.C.A., governing army retirement benefits, only one contains a section prohibiting assignment, attachment or anticipation of these benefits.

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Bluebook (online)
401 So. 2d 406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rogers-v-rogers-lactapp-1981.