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CourtListener opinion 11145116

Date unknown · US

Extracted case name
pending
Extracted reporter citation
276 A.3d 221
Docket / number
1694 MDA 2024
QDRO relevance 5/5Retirement relevance 5/5Family-law relevance 5/5gold label pending
Research-use warning: This page contains machine-draft public annotations generated from public opinion text. The headnote is not Willie-approved gold-label work product and is not legal advice. Verify the full opinion and current law before relying on it.

Machine-draft headnote

Machine-draft public headnote: CourtListener opinion 11145116 is included in the LexyCorpus QDRO sample set as a public CourtListener opinion with relevance to pension / defined benefit issues. The current annotation is conservative: it identifies source provenance, relevance signals, and evidence quotes for attorney/agent retrieval. It is not a Willie-approved legal headnote yet.

Retrieval annotation

Draft retrieval summary: this opinion has QDRO relevance score 5/5, retirement-division score 5/5, and family-law score 5/5. Use the quoted text and full opinion below before relying on the case.

Category: pension / defined benefit issues

Evidence quotes

QDRO

of Common Pleas of Berks County Civil Division at No(s): 12 20957 BEFORE: LAZARUS, P.J., BOWES, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.* MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED: SEPTEMBER 26, 2025 Appellant, Shan Ling, appeals from the Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County. We affirm. This Court previously provided the relevant background of the parties, as follows: Husband [Michael Lausch] and Wife [Shan Ling] met in Shanghai and were married there in 2000. . . . Husband and Wife subsequently moved to the United States, where their daughter was born in 2003. In

retirement benefits

on for Enforcement of the Marital Transfer Order," in which she alleged Mr. Lausch had not complied with the order's requirement that he transfer $465,164.57 from his Campbell Soup Company-sponsored 401(k) retirement savings plan account to her Individual Retirement Account. The lower court issued upon Mr. Lausch a rule to show cause why it should not grant relief to Ms. Ling. Through counsel, Mr. Lausch filed an answer explaining that, in 2021, he was prepared to transfer the 401(k) funds pursuant to the court's marital transfer order, but, before he could do so, Ms. Ling filed an appeal to this Court challenging the di

pension

r into my Roth IRA. Additionally, I submitted court evidence [] and an index table [] regarding the $600,000+ in fraudulent misappropriation and judicial errors from the 2017 hearing, seeking a freeze on the plaintiff's retirement funds— including 401(k), pension, and Roth IRA accounts—totaling $1.5 million, until these judgments are rectified. ... The May 2021 divorce judgment was based on the marital assets assessed during the 2017 hearing. Apart from the $600,000+ in misappropriated marital assets due to fraudulent judgment errors, [Mr. Lausch's counsel's] proposal in 2023 to transfer marital assets came

401(k)

ssue before the trial court in her June 26, 2024, "Petition for Enforcement of the Marital Transfer Order," in which she alleged Mr. Lausch had not complied with the order's requirement that he transfer $465,164.57 from his Campbell Soup Company-sponsored 401(k) retirement savings plan account to her Individual Retirement Account. The lower court issued upon Mr. Lausch a rule to show cause why it should not grant relief to Ms. Ling. Through counsel, Mr. Lausch filed an answer explaining that, in 2021, he was prepared to transfer the 401(k) funds pursuant to the court's marital transfer order, but, before he c

Source and provenance

Source type
courtlistener_qdro_opinion_full_text
Permissions posture
public
Generated status
machine draft public v0
Review status
gold label pending
Jurisdiction metadata
US
Deterministic extraction
reporter: 276 A.3d 221 · docket: 1694 MDA 2024
Generated at
May 14, 2026

Related public corpus pages

Deterministic links based on shared title/citation terms and QDRO / retirement / family-law retrieval scores.

Clean opinion text

J-S22033-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

 MICHAEL LAUSCH : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
 : PENNSYLVANIA
 :
 v. :
 :
 :
 SHAN LING :
 :
 Appellant : No. 1694 MDA 2024

 Appeal from the Order Entered October 30, 2024
 In the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County Civil Division at No(s):
 12 20957

BEFORE: LAZARUS, P.J., BOWES, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED: SEPTEMBER 26, 2025

 Appellant, Shan Ling, appeals from the Qualified Domestic Relations

Order ("QDRO") entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County. We

affirm.

 This Court previously provided the relevant background of the parties,

as follows:

 Husband [Michael Lausch] and Wife [Shan Ling] met in Shanghai
 and were married there in 2000. . . . Husband and Wife
 subsequently moved to the United States, where their daughter
 was born in 2003. In 2004, Husband purchased a family residence
 in his name in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

 Husband and Wife separated in 2012, and Husband filed for
 divorce that same year. The court appointed a divorce master,
 who held hearings on October 16, 2017, March 16, 2018, and May
 14, 2018.[] The master filed his report and recommendation on
 August 28, 2018. Wife filed several exceptions. Both parties filed
____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
 J-S22033-25

 briefs, and the matter was argued on December 9, 2020. In the
 divorce decree entered May 21, 2021, the trial court sustained in
 part and denied in part Wife's exceptions.

Lausch v. Ling, 276 A.3d 221 (non-precedential decision) (Pa. Super. filed

March 8, 2022) (affirming the lower court's divorce decree incorporating, inter

alia, the equitable distribution of marital assets).

 The present matter arose when Ms. Ling raised a discrete issue before

the trial court in her June 26, 2024, "Petition for Enforcement of the Marital

Transfer Order," in which she alleged Mr. Lausch had not complied with the

order's requirement that he transfer $465,164.57 from his Campbell Soup

Company-sponsored 401(k) retirement savings plan account to her Individual

Retirement Account. The lower court issued upon Mr. Lausch a rule to show

cause why it should not grant relief to Ms. Ling.

 Through counsel, Mr. Lausch filed an answer explaining that, in 2021,

he was prepared to transfer the 401(k) funds pursuant to the court's marital

transfer order, but, before he could do so, Ms. Ling filed an appeal to this

Court challenging the divorce decree with specific reference to the propriety

of the marital transfer order and the equitable distribution of marital property

incorporated therein. After this Court in Lausch rejected Ms. Ling's equitable

distribution claims and affirmed the divorce decree, Ms. Ling exhausted her

appeal options, upon which counsel for Mr. Lausch mailed to Ms. Ling a written

correspondence dated July 23, 2023, asking for her account information to

enable completion of the transfer of funds pursuant to the lower court's marital

 -2-
 J-S22033-25

transfer order. Ms. Ling never responded to the request. N.T., 10/30/24, at

2-4.

 At the October 30, 2024, hearing on Ms. Ling's June 26, 2024, petition

to enforce the marital transfer order, she acknowledged that she did not wish

to sign the proposed QDRO authorizing the transfer of the agreed-upon

amount of $465,164.57 despite her attorney's recommendation that she sign.

She attempted to relitigate issues of asset valuation and the adequacy of the

transfer amount that were either previously litigated and denied or never

raised during marital property distribution proceedings and, therefore, waived.

N.T. at 3-5. Ms. Ling also raised non-specific, undeveloped concerns that the

QDRO may not be of "professional" quality, and she otherwise raised

indiscernible issues regarding Social Security that the lower court was unable

to relate to the relevant issues before it. N.T. at 5.

 The lower court advised Ms. Ling that it had the authority to accept the

property distribution scheme within the proposed QDRO without her approval.

Nevertheless, Ms. Ling pressed her objection to calculating the amount of her

401(k) share based on the 2017 value of Mr. Lausch's 401(k) account instead

of on the present value (as of the October 30, 2024, hearing). N.T. at 8-9.

The lower court responded that use of the 2017 valuation was appropriate

because the parties had been separated since 2012, and it opined that, in any

event, Ms. Ling had waived this issue when she did not raise it during previous

lower court proceedings in which the 2021 marital transfer order incorporated

the 2017 401(k) valuation or in her subsequent appeal to the Superior Court

 -3-
 J-S22033-25

addressing the fairness of the equitable distribution scheme. N.T. at 8-9. On

this point, the notes of testimony reflect the following:

 Lower Court: Well, what we're talking about is the issues that
 you're raising were issues that should have
 been raised, or were raised and denied, during
 the course of the hearings that took place before
 the Equitable Distribution Master, and then
 before me, and then before the [a]ppellate
 [c]ourt.

 [Ms. Ling]: I understand that. I want to wait to –

 Lower Court: But your claims were denied. So, it's over. You
 can't keep rehashing the same claims. This is
 what you are entitled to. That's what [counsel
 for Mr. Lausch] is saying.
 ...

 You can't have a do-over. You can't repeat it.
 You already raised these issues, and they were
 denied. It's decided. It's over.
N.T. at 9, 10-11.

 The lower court took a brief recess to await the arrival of Ms. Ling's

court-appointed interpreter. When the interpreter arrived, the lower court

reconvened and reiterated that all economic matters between the parties were

previously litigated before the trial court and reviewed, on appeal, by the

Superior Court, which affirmed the trial court order pertaining to the

distribution of the marital estate. At this stage, the lower court emphasized,

only the method by which Mr. Lausch would complete the transfer of

$465,164.57 from his 401(k) account to Ms. Ling's IRA account remained at

issue. N.T. at 14. As such, it instructed that under the terms of the governing

 -4-
 J-S22033-25

divorce decree, if the parties disputed over the method of distribution, then

Mr. Lausch held the option to choose between payment of cash or by QDRO.

N.T. at 14.

 The lower court thus concluded that because the parties had failed to

agree on the method of distribution, Husband was to choose a method. It

observed:

 What we have here is no agreement[,] [a]nd since there is a
 dispute, the method of payment shall be Husband's option. He
 has chosen to use the QDRO. He has prepared the QDRO. I have
 reviewed the QDRO, which appears to be in order, which he has
 prepared and has paid for, and it's for the correct amount. So, I
 am signing the QDRO, and that will complete the matter for
 today."

N.T. at 14-15. This appeal followed.1

 Initially, we note that Ms. Ling has failed to include in her pro se brief a

statement of questions presented. Pursuant to Rule 2116, "[n]o question will

be considered unless it is stated in the statement of questions involved or is

fairly suggested thereby." Pa.R.A.P. 2116(a).

 Although Rule 2116 states that this Court will not consider a question

that is not included in the statement of questions involved, this Court has held

that "such a defect may be overlooked where an appellant's brief suggests the

specific issue to be reviewed and appellant's failure does not impede our ability

to address the merits of the issue." Werner v. Werner, 149 A.3d 338, 341
____________________________________________

1 On November 14, 2024, Ms. Ling timely filed her pro se appeal from the
lower court's October 30, 2024, order accepting the QDRO as the method of
distributing to wife her agreed-upon marital share of $465,164.57 from Mr.
Lausch's 401(k) plan account.

 -5-
 J-S22033-25

(Pa. Super. 2016) (quoting Bailey v. Storlazzi, 729 A.2d 1206, 1210 (Pa.

Super. 1999)) (cleaned up). See also Lausch, supra at *13. Ms. Ling raised

the issue of the lower court's distribution of Mr. Lausch's 401(k) plan during

the proceedings below, and the lower court addressed it and ruled against her.

Therefore, because the issue is readily ascertainable, Ms. Ling preserved it

below, and the trial court addressed it, the absence of a statement of

questions involved does not impede our review in this instance, such that we

decline to find this issue waived.

 We begin with the following principles, which govern our review:

 Our standard of review in assessing the propriety of a
 marital property distribution is whether the trial court
 abused its discretion by a misapplication of the law or
 failure to follow proper legal procedure. An abuse of
 discretion is not found lightly, but only upon a showing
 of clear and convincing evidence.

 Busse v. Busse, 921 A.2d 1248, 1257 (Pa. Super. 2007) (citation
 omitted).

 This Court will not find an abuse of discretion unless
 the law has been overridden or misapplied or the
 judgment exercised was manifestly unreasonable, or
 the result of partiality, prejudice, bias, or ill will, as
 shown by the evidence in the certified record. In
 determining the propriety of an equitable distribution
 award, courts must consider the distribution scheme
 as a whole. We measure the circumstances of the case
 against the objective of effectuating economic justice
 between the parties and achieving a just
 determination of their property rights.

 Moreover, it is within the province of the trial court to
 weigh the evidence and decide credibility and this
 Court will not reverse those determinations so long as
 they are supported by the evidence. We are also

 -6-
 J-S22033-25

 aware that a master's report and recommendation,
 although only advisory, is to be given the fullest
 consideration, particularly on the question of
 credibility of witnesses, because the master has the
 opportunity to observe and assess the behavior and
 demeanor of the parties.
 Carney v. Carney, 167 A.3d 127, 131 (Pa. Super. 2017) (cleaned
 up).

Lausch at *2.

 Preliminarily, we observe Ms. Ling's pro se brief is prolix, noncompliant

with the briefing requirements outlined in the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate

Procedure, and, at times, difficult to follow. Nevertheless, she presents the

crux of her argument most clearly at the outset, where she contends:

 To help my child complete their college education and escape
 financial hardship, I filed a petition, "Petition for Enforcement of
 the Marital Asset Transfer Order" . . . with the Berks County Court
 on June 26, 2024, requesting that the plaintiff transfer my marital
 asset share of $465,164.5 [sic], as determined in the finalized
 May 20, 2021 divorce judgment, in a form that allows it to be
 rolled over into my Roth IRA. Additionally, I submitted court
 evidence [] and an index table [] regarding the $600,000+ in
 fraudulent misappropriation and judicial errors from the 2017
 hearing, seeking a freeze on the plaintiff's retirement funds—
 including 401(k), pension, and Roth IRA accounts—totaling $1.5
 million, until these judgments are rectified.

 ...

 The May 2021 divorce judgment was based on the marital assets
 assessed during the 2017 hearing. Apart from the $600,000+ in
 misappropriated marital assets due to fraudulent judgment errors,
 [Mr. Lausch's counsel's] proposal in 2023 to transfer marital
 assets came six years after the hearing, during which [] litigation
 [Mr. Lausch] had unlawfully retained the huge in [sic] appreciated
 marital assets belonging to me.

 ...

 -7-
 J-S22033-25

 [The parties'] QDRO agreement is directly tied to the major
 fraudulent misappropriation and judicial errors in the divorce case
 Lausch v. Ling, Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 276 A.3d
 221. The distortion of facts in the judgment led to prolonged
 litigation and criminal charges. To ensure my rightful claim to my
 share of the appreciated marital assets, I must overturn the QDRO
 order that violates my legal rights. Therefore, it is necessary to
 present evidence of the criminal fraud and abuse of discretion that
 occurred in this divorce case.

Brief for Appellant at 1, 2.

 The lower court opines that "[t]his most recent chapter in the long and

tortuous history of this case" presents nothing more than Ms. Ling's untimely

attempt to revisit the lower court's equitable distribution of marital property,

as she raises a substantive challenge that she could have raised years earlier.

We agree.

 Specifically, this Court reviewed Ms. Ling's previous challenge to the

lower court's equitable distribution of marital assets, where she elected to

focus on the marital property transfer order's denial of her request to increase

her distribution percentage to 80% in favor of establishing, instead, a 60-40

percentage split in Wife's favor. Lausch, 276 A.3d 221 at *2. Ms. Ling argued

that the lower court's equitable distribution order gave insufficient weight to

"Wife's mental illness, the disparity in earning capacities and retirement funds,

the disparity in opportunities to increase and acquire capital assets, Wife's not

being awarded alimony, Wife's not being able to receive Social Security

benefits through her employment, and Husband's dissipation of marital

assets[.]" Id. at 3 (citing Ms. Ling's Brief, at 29).

 -8-
 J-S22033-25

 In the case sub judice, Ms. Ling relies on essentially identical arguments

to challenge the equitable distribution of Mr. Lausch's 401(k) plan, as she

contends that the QDRO agreement is directly tied to the "major fraudulent

misappropriation and judicial errors in the divorce case Lausch v. Ling,

Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 276 A.3d 221." Thus, on this point, the

lower court discerns that Ms. Ling has waived this issue:

 [Ms. Ling] previously raised these issues before [the lower court]
 by filing exceptions from the Master's Report regarding Plaintiff's
 410(k) plan with Campbell's Soup Company and we resolved
 those issues. She then appealed this case to the Superior Court
 but did not raise issues regarding the value of [Mr. Lausch's]
 retirement income. Thus, any further complaints by [Ms. Ling] on
 this matter are barred by law of the case doctrine.

 The law of the case doctrine expresses the practice of courts
 generally to refuse to reopen what has been decided. Bienert v.
 Bienert, 168 A.3d 248 (Pa. Super. 2017). Under the law of the
 case doctrine once a matter has been decided by a trial judge the
 decision should remain undisturbed, unless the order is
 appealable, and an appeal therefrom is successfully prosecuted.
 Id.

Lower Court Opinion, 12/16/24, at 4.

 The record reveals that the only aspect of the 401(k) distribution

remaining in the post-appeal procedural history of this matter was to

determine whether Ms. Ling would receive her agreed-upon share in cash or

by QDRO. When the parties disagreed on this purely ministerial detail, the

lower court appropriately referred to the governing divorce decree, which

provided that Mr. Lausch shall, in the event of a disagreement, select the

manner of distribution of Ms. Ling's 401(k) share. As Ms. Ling offers no

 -9-
 J-S22033-25

meaningful dispute regarding the manner of distribution, we deem her present

appeal unavailing.

 Order affirmed.

Judgment Entered.

Benjamin D. Kohler, Esq.
Prothonotary

Date: 09/26/2025

 - 10 -