Marriage of Stenquist
California Supreme Court
582 P.2d 96 (1978)
Mr. Stenquist (plaintiff) and Mrs. Stenquist (defendant) married in 1950. Mr. Stenquist became disabled from a service injury in 1953, when he could have retired with disability pay at 75% of his then-base pay, but he chose to keep serving until 1970, by which point his higher rank and years of service meant his base pay was much larger. In 1970 he chose disability payments at 75% of his higher 1970 base pay rather than the available 65% regular retirement. He filed for divorce in 1974, and the trial court found a community interest in his disability payments, applying the time-rule formula to the portion that mirrored what he would have earned under regular retirement. He appealed.
Whether the right to future disability payments is a community-property interest to the extent the value of those payments is determined by service rendered during the marriage.