Marriage of Beltran
Court of Appeal of California
227 Cal. Rptr. 924 (1986)
Mrs. Beltran (plaintiff) filed for divorce from Mr. Beltran (defendant), an Army colonel, and the trial court valued the community-property portion of his retirement pension and leave at $117,000 and $5,115 respectively; during the divorce proceeding, Mr. Beltran was convicted of a felony, and the military court took away his entire pension and other benefits, dismissing him from the Army. The trial court in the divorce action, rather than simply zeroing out Mrs. Beltran's share, assigned the value of the forfeited military benefits to Mr. Beltran and modified the property distribution so Mrs. Beltran received additional other community property equal to half the total original valuation; Mr. Beltran appealed.
Whether a spouse who has lost his or her retirement pension as punishment for criminal or tortious activity must reimburse the innocent spouse for that portion of the retirement pension subject to a community-property interest.