Smith v. Farmer

Citations

• 201 N.E.3d 988
• 2022 Ohio 4180

Syllabus

The trial court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of deceased pension plan participant's second wife/widow and denying first wife's motion for summary judgment on her claims based on second wife's receipt of survivor benefits. The 1988 divorce decree provided that first wife was to receive one-half of participant's gross monthly benefits and, if the plan were later modified to provide for surviving spouse benefits, that she would be the \surviving spouse.\ The surviving spouse provision remained valid after the domestic relations court issued an entry vacating the domestic relations court's subsequent QDRO and converting the gross monthly pension benefits to a spousal support order. However, first wife is not entitled to the benefits second wife is receiving. Second wife is receiving statutory surviving spouse benefits, which are limited to the spouse at the time of the participant's death the plan was not \modified\ to allow those benefits to be paid to a former spouse, and the divorce decree cannot require the plan to provide a survivor benefit to a former spouse under R.C. 742.37(D) and R.C. 742.58 when such benefits are not authorized by statute. In addition, assuming the divorce decree required the plan participant to designate first wife as his beneficiary if he were to select a different annuity option, no change to his plan was made following the divorce, and second wife is not receiving a survivorship payment under an annuity plan. Accordingly, first wife has no right, equitable or otherwise, to the payments second wife is receiving. Judgment affirmed.