Reiss v. Reiss

in which Chief Justice PHILLIPS, Justice HECHT, Justice OWEN, and Justice SMITH joined.

In this case, we must interpret a 1980 divorce decree that divided retirement benefits stemming from one spouse’s employment both during and after the marriage. The trial court held that the decree entitled the non-employee spouse to a specific percentage of the total amount of the benefits as of the employee spouse’s retirement. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that the decree awarded the non-employee spouse an interest in only the community portion of the benefits at the date of divorce, to be…