Harvey v. Harvey
Texas Court of Appeals
905 S.W.2d 760 (1995)
- Written by Whitney Kamerzel , JD
Facts
Gary Harvey (defendant) and Patricia Harvey (plaintiff) were divorced in 1990. Because Gary was employed during his marriage and his employer provided him with a tax-qualified retirement plan, the trial court recognized Patricia’s marital rights in the retirement plan. The trial court therefore awarded Patricia 45 percent of the retirement plan’s value as of the date of divorce, to be paid in the future when the distributions started and in a manner of Patricia’s choosing. However, the divorce decree failed to mention Patricia as Gary’s surviving spouse. The pension plan’s administrator told the Harveys that because the decree failed to identify Patricia as Gary’s surviving spouse, Patricia would not be eligible to receive distributions if Gary died. Patricia filed a motion for clarification of the original decree to effectuate this change. The trial court granted the clarifying change. Gary appealed, arguing that this change was an invalid substantive modification of the divorce decree that conferred a new benefit on Patricia.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Jones, J.)
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