Friedlander, S.J.
Russell McCallister appeals the trial court’s order finding him in contempt of court, directing him to reinstate his former wife, Angela McCallister, as the beneficiary of his Survivor Benefit Plan, and ordering him to pay Angela’s attorney fees. Concluding the trial court correctly determined that Russell violated the parties’ Marital Settlement Agreement, but constrained by the federal statutes which prevent the enforcement of the trial court’s order, we are compelled to reverse and remand in part and affirm in part.
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Russell first contends the trial court erred by ordering him to reinstate Angela as the beneficiary of his SPB. He asserts that, pursuant to the applicable federal statutes, Angela’s time frame for SPB former spouse eligibility has expired and, therefore, she is just simply out of luck.
SBP was created by Congress in 1972 to provide an annuity payable to survivors of a retired military service member upon the service member’s death….
It appears no Indiana case has addressed the precise question posed here: whether, at the present time, it is possible to designate Angela as the beneficiary of Russell’s SBP…
In the present case, Russell voluntarily entered into the Agreement to designate Angela as the beneficiary of his SBP. At the hearing on Angela’s motion for rule to show cause, Russell testified that upon signing the Agreement on November 15, 2011, he then submitted paperwork the next day designating Angela as the beneficiary of his SBP. Angela testified that her attorney at the time apparently received some paperwork and told her there was nothing more she needed to do. At the time of the designation on November 16, however, Russell and Angela were still married. Their divorce was not finalized until December 2, 2011, after which Russell failed to comply with the court’s order and execute the necessary forms to ensure that Angela, as a now former spouse, was designated as beneficiary. Nonetheless, Angela remained listed as the beneficiary of Russell’s SBP.
In December 2012, Russell remarried, and, in June 2013, he changed the SBP beneficiary designation from Angela to his current wife. Russell’s action of removing Angela as beneficiary is a clear violation of the terms of the parties’ Agreement. In addition, no evidence was presented that Russell made any attempt to inform Angela that she was no longer the designated beneficiary on his SBP. In fact, it was not until three years later, in May 2016, that Angela received information from a third party that she was not the designated beneficiary on Russell’s SBP.
We find the holdings in Wise and King to be sound. Accordingly, we conclude that based on the facts of this case and the specific provisions of the SBP enacted by Congress, the trial court’s order directing Russell to reinstate Angela as the beneficiary of his SBP cannot be enforced despite Russell’s violation of the terms of the Agreement. Thus, because Russell failed to comply with the divorce decree and the SBP statutory deadline of one year for election of a former spouse as beneficiary and Angela did not request within one year that an election be deemed, Angela cannot now obtain beneficiary status with regard to Russell’s SBP.
Having determined that the trial court’s order cannot be carried out, we further acknowledge that the SBP annuity was awarded to Angela as part of an agreed upon distribution of the parties’ assets. Accordingly, it is necessary to remand to the trial court for a determination of the value of Angela’s portion of Russell’s SBP, and we grant the trial court the authority to reconsider the distribution of the parties’ assets in order to fashion an alternative remedy to compensate Angela for the loss of her portion of Russell’s SBP. See Heldmyer v. Heldmyer, 15 Fla. L. Weekly D330, 555 So. 2d 1324 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1990) (remanding to trial court for determination of value of former wife’s portion of military pension and for complete reevaluation of property distribution in order to compensate former wife for loss of her portion of pension).
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For the reasons stated, we conclude the action of reinstating Angela as beneficiary of Russell’s SBP as ordered by the trial court cannot be accomplished under the applicable federal law; therefore, we reverse and remand with instructions for the trial court to fashion an appropriate remedy to compensate Angela for the loss of her portion of Russell’s SBP. In addition, we affirm the trial court’s finding of contempt against Russell and its imposition of sanctions for such.
Judgment reversed and remanded in part and affirmed in part.
May, J., and Altice, J., concur.