Introduced
by
To establish that the spouse of a government employee who is divorced after retirement may still be eligible to an interest in the former spouse’s government pension survivor benefits. The bill would reverse the effect of a recent state Court of Appeals ruling (the Walsh Decision), which found that current statute requires an “eligible domestic relations order” allocating marital property rights in a divorce, including an interest in the retiree’s pension benefits, to have been entered before the employee retires in order for it to have effect. The bill would allow the order to be effective after divorce if it is filed within 120 days of the final judgment of divorce.
Referred to the Committee on Appropriations
