Olivo v. Olivio

In Olivo v. Olivio (82 N.Y.2d 202 [1993]) the parties had agreed that the wife would receive the Majauskas share of the husband's pension benefit. Subsequent to the divorce, an incentive package, which included an enhanced pension, was offered which induced the ex-husband to retire earlier than anticipated. Part of the issue presented was whether the ex-wife was entitled to share in the enhanced pension benefit. The Court of Appeals held that she was entitled to do so. Specifically, the Court reasoned: "What the nonemployee spouse possesses, in short, is the right to share in the pension as it is ultimately determined. When Mr. Olivo accepted an early retirement package that enhanced his pension, it perforce enhanced Mrs. Olivo's share in that pension as well" (id. at 210). The Court went on to state that the parties' agreement as to the pension rights upon terminating the marriage gave the wife "an entitlement to share in her former husband's pension, not an entitlement to a fixed sum or even to a particular methodology of calculating the pension benefit" (id. at 210).