Anketell v. Kulldorff

Citations

• 223 Conn. App. 345

Syllabus

The defendant, whose marriage to the plaintiff previously had been dis- solved, appealed to this court from the trial court's judgment granting the plaintiff's postjudgment motion for clarification and for postjudgment interest. In accordance with the dissolution judgment, the defendant was required to transfer $175,000 from the retirement funds of his choice to the plaintiff by way of a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). In its decision, the trial court indicated that such amount could be adjusted to reflect any gains or losses that occurred prior to the judg- ment. The defendant appealed from the dissolution judgment, asserting claims of error unrelated to the division of his retirement funds. The orders of the judgment were stayed during the pending appeal, and, consequently, the retirement funds were not transferred. This court affirmed the trial court's judgment, and our Supreme Court denied the defendant's petition for certification to appeal. Thereafter, the plaintiff filed a postjudgment motion requesting that the trial court clarify whether the $175,000 award of retirement funds was to be adjusted for gains and losses prior to the time of transfer and, if it was not, that the court award the plaintiff statutory (§ 37-3a) interest. The trial court awarded the plaintiff 5 percent annual interest, pursuant to § 37-3a, for each of the three full years that the funds were not paid and for ten months of the fourth year. The trial court indicated that the accrual of interest would cease as of the issuance of its order and would begin to accrue again only if there was a delay beyond that which was necessary to prepare the QDROs. In his appeal, the defendant did not challenge the court's award of interest for the three year period during which his appeal from the dissolution judgment was pending but only claimed, inter alia, that the trial court improperly awarded interest for the ten month period of the fourth year. Held that the trial court's award of post