Sharpnack, S.J.
Statement of the Case
Judith Edwards Klemos appeals from the dissolution court’s order granting D. Juatrice Edwards’ “Motion to Vacate Hearing and Orders Restraining Assets.” The court concluded that after the death of Allen O. Edwards, it no longer had jurisdiction over the disbursement of Allen’s pension and retirement benefits, which it had previously ordered, and dismissed the temporary restraining order protecting assets, which it had entered. We reverse and remand.
Issue
The dispositive issue presented in this appeal is whether the dissolution court, which had expressly retained jurisdiction, had jurisdiction over the disbursement of pension and retirement benefits after the death of one of the parties to the dissolution, and consequently erred by dismissing the temporary restraining order protecting those assets.
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Judith contends that the dissolution court erred by refusing to retain jurisdiction, relying in large part on Lizak. Juatrice claims that none of the exceptions to the general rule are applicable and relies on Johnson v. Johnson, 653 N.E.2d 512 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995). In particular, she notes a portion of the opinion stating, “We believe that the legislature did not intend for trial courts to retain jurisdiction over dissolution actions following the death of one of the parties for the purpose of resolving property matters between the parties and their successors in interest.” Id. at 516. Juatrice argues that the present case is like that in Johnson because it is a property matter between a party and a successor in interest.
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In the present case, the trial court had made a final determination upon accepting the parties’ Agreed Dissolution Decree setting forth the division of pension and retirement assets among other things. Judith sought to enforce the award in the dissolution court. A dissolution court may exercise continuing jurisdiction to reexamine a property settlement where the nature of the examination is to seek clarification of a prior order.” Fackler v. Powell, 839 N.E.2d 165, 167 (Ind. 2005). “This jurisdictional grant to a dissolution court is warranted as an extension of ‘the necessary and usual powers essential to effectuate th[e marital] dissolution, [which] include[s] the power to interpret the court’s own decree.’” Id. (quoting Behme v. Behme, 519 N.E.2d 578, 582 (Ind. Ct. App. 1988)). The trial court’s order on the May 24, 2016, hearing clarified the Agreed Dissolution Decree by assigning the task of preparing the QDROs or other necessary documents to Judith’s attorney as soon as possible and provided for the issuance of a restraining order to protect those assets given the state of Allen’s health. Allen died the next day, before counsel could prepare the necessary documents.
Juatrice intervened in the action and claimed that although the dissolution court had explicitly retained jurisdiction for purposes of seeing the disbursement of the pension and retirement funds through to its completion, the dissolution court no longer had jurisdiction over the matter due to Allen’s death. This position is contrary to the holdings of the cases cited above and the trial court erred by holding that it lacked continuing jurisdiction to complete the implementation of the division of property as ordered in the final decree.
The dissolution court’s continuing jurisdiction would also include the ability to reopen the decree to address any allegations of fraud which may have underpinned the final decree or fraud in the attempts to carry out the preparation of the QDROs. Additionally, the dissolution court would have the authority to clarify the issue of any appreciation or depreciation of Judith’s share of the pension and retirement benefits for the coverture period.
Consequently, the dissolution court further erred by dismissing the restraining order protecting the retirement and pension assets until they could be properly divided.
Conclusion
In light of the foregoing, we reverse the dissolution court’s order and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Reversed and remanded.
Crone, J., and Bradford, J., concur.