State Ex Rel. Neuhausen v. Nachtsheim

The appellants, Lawrence Nachtsheim and the Department of Administration, appeal from the Judgment and Peremptory Writ of Mandate entered by the District Court of the Eleventh Judicial District, Flathead County, which directed the appellants to divide Highway Patrol Retirement System (HPRS) benefits and pay one-*298half of those benefits directly to the respondent, Patricia Neuhausen, in accordance with a decree of dissolution of marriage. We reverse and remand.

The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the appellants have a clear legal duty to pay HPRS benefits directly to the respondent.

On…