Matter of Marriage of Smith
Docket: 48132-6, 48323-0, 48622-1
Court: Washington Supreme Court; February 10, 1983; Washington; State Supreme Court
Each of the three cases involves dissolution decrees that allocated military retired pay as a community asset, subsequently distributing portions of that pay to the respective wives. These decrees were finalized before the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in *McCarty v. McCarty*, which determined that federal law prohibits state courts from dividing military retired pay under state community property laws. Following *McCarty*, the ex-husbands sought to vacate their dissolution decrees regarding the distribution of military retired pay. The trial courts denied these motions, prompting direct appeals to the Washington Supreme Court. The primary argument from the appellants centered on the assertion that the dissolution courts lacked jurisdiction to divide military retired pay post-*McCarty*. However, the court referenced its previous decision in *In re Marriage of Brown*, affirming that *McCarty* does not retroactively affect dissolution courts' jurisdiction over military retired pay. Thus, the court upheld the trial courts' decisions. One appellant, Smith, raised an additional issue concerning a writ of garnishment on his bank account containing retired pay proceeds. The court determined that since Smith failed to file a new notice of review after the trial court issued a new decision, this challenge was not properly before them. The court affirmed the trial courts' orders in all three cases, remanding Wehmeyer and Wilder for potential attorney fee awards under RCW 26.09.140. No attorney fees were granted to Smith as the respondent did not request them. Reconsideration of the decisions was denied on March 29, 1983.