Trial court’s finding that former wife unreasonably delayed, as an element of laches, in bringing her claim to modify the pension division in a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) entered in divorce proceeding twenty years previously, under which federal pension administrator had paid former wife her share of her former spouse’s pension in accelerated lump sum payments, seeking lifetime monthly payments was not clearly erroneous; former wife acknowledged receipt of a letter from the Office of Personnel Management clearly stating that, pursuant to QDRO, she would receive a lump sum of $22,459.81 from former spouse’s retirement benefit in monthly payments of $1,796.50 until paid in full, and acknowledged consulting with counsel, but taking no legal action until almost five years later.
http://www.courtrecords.alaska.gov/webdocs/opinions/ops/sp-6895.pdf
Laura W. Morgan is the owner and operator at Family Law Consulting in Charlottesville, Virginia. Laura is available for consultation, brief writing and research on family law issues throughout the country. She can be reached through her website. www.famlawconsult.com
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