7 legal tibits that make a difference–
1. Social Security benefits, including disability, shall not be divided in a Missouri Dissolution of Marriage case. (section 169.572 of Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri)
2. Likewise, Missouri Public Teachers Retirement benefits, which largely take the place of Social Security benefits for such teachers, shall not be divided in a Missouri divorce case. (section 169.572 also)
3. For much the same reason, Tier I of railroad retirement basically pays railroad workers what they would have received in Social Security benefits and therefore is not to be divided by the court in a divorce case. Federal law, 45 U.S.C. section 231m, exempts Tier I benefits from the property a divorce court may divide. The Railroad Retirement Board will not honor a court dissolution of marriage judgment/order that divides Tier I. Only Tier II may be divided.
4. Military disability benefits are non-marital property of the soldier that the court shall not divide in a divorce case. But ordinary military retirement benefits are marital property which may be divided. Important: the military spouse may elect to receive military disability benefits and if so the ordinary military retirement benefits are reduced dollar for dollar. A legitimate reason for taking disability instead of ordinary retirement is that the disability benefits are not taxed as income to the receiving spouse. Settlement agreements should prohibit the military spouse from electing to take disability benefits instead of ordinary retirement, or to indemnify the other spouse if the military spouse so elects and consequently reduces the amount of ordinary military retirement available to the other spouse. (Morgan v. Morgan, 249 S.W.3d 226, 230 (Mo. Ct. App. W.D. 2008)
5. In a Missouri divorce case, court cannot validly order a spouse to maintain a life insurance policy(s) to support the chilren in the event of the death of the spouse charged with paying child support, UNLESS the parties so agree [most likely in a settlement agreement in the divorce proceeding]. (Weiss v. Weiss, 954 S.W.2d 456, 459 (Mo. Ct. App. S.D. 19970); Wheeler v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 999 S.W.2d 279, 287-88 (Mo. Ct. App. E.D. 1999)) But court may order a spouse to maintain life insurance for other reasons such as to secure the payment of maintenance (formerly called alimony).
6. Social Security paid for a child due to the non-custodial parent’s disability may be credited against his/her child support obligation. (Wallace v. Wallace, 269 S.W. 3d 479 (Mo. Ct. App. E.D. 2008); Weaks v. Weaks, 821 S.W.2d 503, 506 (Mo. 1991))
7. Social Security paid for a child due to the custodial parent’s disability shall not be a direct dollar for dollar credit against the non-custodial parent’s child support obligation. (Gerlach v. Adair, 211 S.W.3d 663, 667 (Mo. Ct. App. W.D. 2007). But the court may still consider–not necessarily as a full dollar for dollar credit but simply as one of many possible factors–that the child has income of his/her own in the form of Social Security benefits. (See Missouri Child Support Guidelines at Section G, Comment (1).)
Kurt H. King
Law Office of Kurt H. King, 20 E. Franklin, Liberty, Clay County, Missouri 64068
816.781.6000
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The Law Office of Kurt H King 