Marriage of Fransen

Alwayne (plaintiff) and Arnold Fransen (defendant), married from 1943-1966, were living in Oregon when Arnold announced he wanted a divorce during Alwayne's visit to her daughter in California, prompting Alwayne to remain in California; Arnold moved to Idaho and obtained a divorce decree there, with Alwayne, on advice of counsel, never appearing, limiting the Idaho court's authority to issuing only the divorce itself. Arnold later moved to California, and Alwayne then filed there for divorce, spousal support, and division of Arnold's pension, while Arnold argued the Idaho decree was already final on all marital issues. The California trial court granted Alwayne only 5 percent of Arnold's military pension, reasoning the couple had lived in California for only 10 percent of their marriage's length, treating only that 10 percent as divisible community property; Alwayne appealed, since 89.9 percent of the pension was actually earned during the marriage, and Arnold cross-appealed the trial court's jurisdiction to divide his pension at all.