Marriage of Lehman
California Supreme Court
955 P.2d 451 (1998)
- Written by Maggy Gregory, JD
Facts
Mrs. Lehman (plaintiff) and Mr. Lehman (defendant) were married in 1960 and divorced in 1978. In granting the divorce, the trial court retained jurisdiction as to Mr. Lehman's retirement benefits. Mr. Lehman was employed by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) during and after the parties’ marriage. In 1993, in order to avoid layoffs, PG&E created a voluntary incentive program whereby employees who were qualified to take early retirement and chose to do so would receive retirement computed by first adding three and one-half years of service to the employee's actual years of service and, second, eliminating an 18 percent actuarial reduction in the benefits normally calculated for early retirement. Mr. Lehman elected to take the enhanced early retirement and, as a result, received $3,059.30 in monthly retirement benefits. Mr. Lehman's monthly retirement benefits were $708.91 greater than the early retirement benefits of $2,350.39 per month that he would have received without the enhanced benefit program.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Mosk, J.)
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