Edmonds v. Edmonds

In Edmonds v. Edmonds, 184 Misc. 2d 928, 710 N.Y.S.2d 765 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2000), the New York Supreme Court, Onondaga County, construed a provision in a valid premarital agreement which stated that the husband and wife each retained the right to dispose of all property which he or she "now owns or is possessed of, or may hereafter acquire, or receive, as his or her own absolute property in like manner as if he or she had remained unmarried." Edmonds, 710 N.Y.S.2d at 767. The court noted that the husband, who sought a determination that his wife's pension and deferred compensation plan were marital assets subject to distribution, was represented by counsel in connection with the premarital agreement, while the wife, who brought the divorce action, had specifically acknowledged and waived her right to counsel. Id. The husband in that case contended that ERISA provides that spousal benefits can only be effectively waived by a spouse; as he was not the spouse of the plaintiff at the time the premarital agreement was signed, the husband argued that the purported waiver was invalid. Id. The husband in that case further contended that the waiver failed to comply with ERISA's specific waiver requirements, and was therefore invalid. Edmonds, 710 N.Y.S.2d at 767-68. The New York court noted that ERISA was enacted in 1974 and amended effective 1 January 1985 by the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 (REA), which added a "requirement that all qualified pension plans provide automatic benefits to surviving spouses in the form of a survivor's annuity (Pub. L. No. 98-397, 98 Stat. 1426 (1984)." Edmonds, 710 N.Y.S.2d at 768. The REA also outlined the strict requirements for the waiver of such benefits. See 29 U.S.C. 1055(c)(1), (2). The court noted that, "Apart from the survivor benefit of REA, ERISA does not mandate that other benefits be provided to a participant's spouse. In fact, ERISA expressly prohibits alienation of benefits by the plan participant," other than pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order pursuant to 29 U.S.C. 1056(d). Edmonds, 710 N.Y.S.2d at 768.