Farver v. Department of Retirement Systems

Phyllis and John Berling (petitioner) were married in 1944. In 1974 John petitioned for dissolution. At the time of trial, John had worked for the Washington State Patrol for 22 years and his contingent pension rights in the Washington State Patrol's retirement system constituted the most valuable marital asset.

The trial court, in the process of allocating the marital property, divided the retirement rights, giving three-fourths of the income from the contingent pension to John and one-fourth to Phyllis, with the unchallenged proviso that any additional benefits accruing in the event John…