Baker v. Paluch, Unpublished Decision (12-15-2004)
Baker v. Paluch, Unpublished Decision (12-15-2004)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 3} Intending to divide Ms. Baker's TSP, the court issued a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), assigning one-half the value of the plan to Mr. Paluch. However, in journalizing the QDRO, the court erroneously identified the TSP as her FERS pension. Due to this misidentification, the TSP administrator rejected Mr. Paluch's claim. The court responded immediately, intending to remedy the mislabeling and effectuate the divorce decree. An amended QDRO was filed, which was identical to the prior QDRO, but for the identification of the TSP instead of the FERS pension in the text of the order. Thereafter, Ms. Bakers' TSP was equally divided and one-half distributed to Mr. Paluch.
{¶ 4} Almost one year later, Ms. Baker unexpectedly received notice from her USPS-FERS administrator that her FERS pension had been equally divided and one-half distributed to Mr. Paluch. Apparently, Mr. Paluch had filed the original erroneous QDRO with FERS, and USPS had unknowingly but mistakenly acted upon it. Ms. Baker sought to remedy this mistake by contacting USPS directly, but was unsuccessful. Eventually, Ms. Baker sought a court order to clarify this mistake and recover her money. A magistrate reviewed the divorce decree, recognized the error, and issued an order correcting the situation. The court adopted the magistrate's decision. In the meantime, USPS had continued to pay Mr. Paluch from Ms. Baker's FERS until it received the court order instructing it to cease doing so.
{¶ 5} Subsequently, the court adopted the magistrate's further decision, finding that Mr. Paluch had erroneously received $14,367.88 from Ms. Baker's FERS and ordering repayment of this sum, with interest. Mr. Paluch timely appealed from this order, asserting four assignments of error. We have consolidated these assignments of error and address them together to facilitate review.
{¶ 6} In these four assignments of error, Mr. Paluch seeks to challenge the trial court's jurisdiction to render a judgment against him in this matter. Otherwise stated, Mr. Palluch alleges that the trial court lacks the authority to compel him to return the money. We disagree.
{¶ 7} Under R.C.
"A QDRO is a current distribution of the rights in a retirement account which is payable in the future, when the payee retires. It is ordinarily issued subsequent to and separate from the decree of divorce itself, after the employer payor has approved its terms as conforming with the particular pension plan involved. A QDRO is, therefore, merely an order in aid of execution on the property division ordered in the divorce decree. So long as the QDRO is consistent with the decree, it does not constitute a modification which R.C.
{¶ 8} Furthermore, a court may retain continuing jurisdiction by expressly reserving that right, and thereby enforce the divorce decree. Gordon v. Gordon (2001),
{¶ 9} Mr. Paluch neither challenges the aforementioned law, nor argues that he was rightfully awarded the money. Rather, Mr. Paluch proceeds from a fundamental misunderstanding: that, because he did nothing wrong, he is entitled to benefit from the trial court's mistake in drafting the original QDRO. Throughout his brief to this Court, Mr. Paluch insists that he did nothing illegal or unethical, that he should not be held liable for the mistakes of others, and that others are individually or collectively responsible. To buttress this argument, Mr. Paluch casts blame on Ms. Baker, her attorney, USPS and the trial court; he engages in speculation that the trial court is in collusion with Ms. Baker's attorney; and he accuses Ms. Baker and her attorney of fraud and the trial court and its officers of incompetence. This inflammatory rhetoric adds nothing to the analysis of this case. Moreover, Mr. Paluch's specific assignments of error are not applicable to Ms. Baker's claim or the trial court's corresponding order.
{¶ 10} Mr. Paluch contends that Ms. Baker failed to exhaust administrative remedies; however, this was not an administrative decision. Mr. Paluch contends that the trial court abused its discretion in affirming the magistrate's decision; however, he asserts nothing more than baseless accusations in support of this contention. Mr. Paluch alleged a host of infractions under the Rules of Civil Procedure; however, other than insisting that he was not at fault, he failed to support any of these allegations. See Angle v. Western Reserve Mut. Ins. Co. (Sept. 16, 1998), 9th Dist. No. 2729-M (appellants bear the burden of affirmatively demonstrating error on appeal). Mr. Paluch contends that the magistrate is a nonentity for lack of a sworn oath of office on file; however, as a subordinate officer of the court, there is no requirement that the magistrate's oath be on file. See R.C.
{¶ 11} Contrary to Mr. Paluch's contentions, the critical facts are that the trial court mistakenly designated the wrong savings plan on the original QDRO, which the USPS relied upon in erroneously distributing $14,367.88 of Ms. Baker's FERS pension to Mr. Paluch. Upon recognizing the mistake, the trial court invoked its retained jurisdiction to remedy the error and return the parties to their proper position. See Gordon,
Judgment affirmed.
The Court finds that there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common Pleas, County of Summit, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27.
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the period for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(E). The Clerk of the Court of Appeals is instructed to mail a notice of entry of this judgment to the parties and to make a notation of the mailing in the docket, pursuant to App.R. 30.
Costs taxed to Appellant.
Exceptions.
Carr, P.J., Boyle, J., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Margaret Baker v. William Paluch
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Unpublished