Allison v. Allison

700 S.W.2d 914 (1985)

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Allison v. Allison

Texas Supreme Court
700 S.W.2d 914 (1985)

  • Written by Whitney Kamerzel , JD

Facts

Antonia Allison (plaintiff) and William Allison (defendant) were married and subsequently divorced. Upon divorce, a trial court entered a divorce decree awarding all of William’s federal military retirement benefits to William. On June 26, 1981, the United States Supreme Court, in McCarty v. McCarty, 453 U.S. 210 (1981), held that military retirement benefits were the separate property of the service member and could not be distributed to spouses in community-property states. On September 9, 1982, the president signed a law permitting spouses to share in military retirement pay, but only for periods beginning after 1981. The legislation essentially reversed McCarty. The Allisons’ divorce decree was rendered in the gap after McCarty was decided and before the federal legislation’s effective date. Several years later, and after the time to appeal the divorce decree had expired, Allison sued William to partition his military retirement benefits on the ground that the divorce decree’s holding was void. The trial court granted summary judgment for William. The court of appeals affirmed. Allison appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)

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