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CourtListener opinion 2675302

Date unknown · US

Extracted case name
pending
Extracted reporter citation
909 P.2d 314
Docket / number
pending
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 2675302 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

s ("Mr. Ross") 2 survivor benefits to Jeannette Pritchow, Mr. Ross's former wife. Ms. Pritchow appeals the denial of her request for attorneys' fees. We affirm. (1) The district court did not err in interpreting the Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") agreed to between Ms. Pritchow and Mr. Ross as awarding 100% of the survivor benefits to Ms. Pritchow. The plain language of the QDRO states that Ms. Pritchow is entitled to "the entirety of the survivor benefit payable pursuant to the Plan." Although Washington law applies a community property presumption that when a spouse continues to accumulate p

pension

BLICATION MAY 21 2014 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JOINT TRUSTEES OF THE No. 13-35071 INTERNATIONAL LONGSHORE & WAREHOUSE UNION - PACIFIC D.C. No. 2:12-cv-01379-JLR MARITIME ASSOCIATION PENSION PLAN, MEMORANDUM* Plaintiff-counter-defendant, JEANETTE PRITCHOW, Defendant-cross-defendant - Appellee, v. KIM E ROSS, Defendant-cross-claimant - Appellant. JEANETTE PRITCHOW, No. 13-35074 Defendant-cross-defendant - D.C. No. 2:12-cv-01379-JLR Appellant, And * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except

survivor benefits

vor pension benefits by the Joint Trustees of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union – Pacific Maritime Association Pension Plan ("the Plan"). Kim E. Ross ("Mrs. Ross") appeals the district court's award of 100% of Joseph E. Ross's ("Mr. Ross") 2 survivor benefits to Jeannette Pritchow, Mr. Ross's former wife. Ms. Pritchow appeals the denial of her request for attorneys' fees. We affirm. (1) The district court did not err in interpreting the Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") agreed to between Ms. Pritchow and Mr. Ross as awarding 100% of the survivor benefits to Ms. Pritchow. The plain language of th

valuation/division

Pritchow and Mr. Ross as awarding 100% of the survivor benefits to Ms. Pritchow. The plain language of the QDRO states that Ms. Pritchow is entitled to "the entirety of the survivor benefit payable pursuant to the Plan." Although Washington law applies a community property presumption that when a spouse continues to accumulate pension benefits following divorce, the former spouse should receive only those benefits that accrued during the marriage, state law does not mandate that approach. See Chavez v. Chavez (In re Chavez), 909 P.2d 314, 316 (Wash. App. 1996). Here, the QDRO is entirely clear with respect to survivor b

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: 909 P.2d 314
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

FILED
 NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAY 21 2014

 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

 FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

JOINT TRUSTEES OF THE No. 13-35071
INTERNATIONAL LONGSHORE &
WAREHOUSE UNION - PACIFIC D.C. No. 2:12-cv-01379-JLR
MARITIME ASSOCIATION PENSION
PLAN,
 MEMORANDUM*
 Plaintiff-counter-defendant,

JEANETTE PRITCHOW,

 Defendant-cross-defendant -
Appellee,

 v.

KIM E ROSS,

 Defendant-cross-claimant -
Appellant.

JEANETTE PRITCHOW, No. 13-35074

 Defendant-cross-defendant - D.C. No. 2:12-cv-01379-JLR
Appellant,

 And

 *
 This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
 JOINT TRUSTEES OF THE
INTERNATIONAL LONGSHORE &
WAREHOUSE UNION - PACIFIC
MARITIME ASSOCIATION PENSION
PLAN,

 Plaintiff-counter-defendant,

 v.

KIM E ROSS,

 Defendant-cross-claimant -
Appellee.

 Appeal from the United States District Court
 for the Western District of Washington
 James L. Robart, District Judge, Presiding

 Argued and Submitted May 12, 2014
 Seattle, Washington

Before: O'SCANNLAIN, KLEINFELD, and BERZON, Circuit Judges.

 These cross-appeals from the entry of summary judgment in an interpleader

action concern a dispute regarding the distribution of survivor pension benefits by

the Joint Trustees of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union – Pacific

Maritime Association Pension Plan ("the Plan"). Kim E. Ross ("Mrs. Ross")

appeals the district court's award of 100% of Joseph E. Ross's ("Mr. Ross")

 2
 survivor benefits to Jeannette Pritchow, Mr. Ross's former wife. Ms. Pritchow

appeals the denial of her request for attorneys' fees. We affirm.

 (1) The district court did not err in interpreting the Qualified Domestic

Relations Order ("QDRO") agreed to between Ms. Pritchow and Mr. Ross as

awarding 100% of the survivor benefits to Ms. Pritchow. The plain language of

the QDRO states that Ms. Pritchow is entitled to "the entirety of the survivor

benefit payable pursuant to the Plan." Although Washington law applies a

community property presumption that when a spouse continues to accumulate

pension benefits following divorce, the former spouse should receive only those

benefits that accrued during the marriage, state law does not mandate that

approach. See Chavez v. Chavez (In re Chavez), 909 P.2d 314, 316 (Wash. App.

1996).

 Here, the QDRO is entirely clear with respect to survivor benefits, and so

overcomes any applicable presumption. Moreover, the QDRO elsewhere

specifically reflects Washington's community property presumption, in its

treatment of pension benefits during Mr. Ross's lifetime (which is what was at

stake in In re Chavez). The distinction between the treatment of pension benefits

and of survivor benefits confirms that the community property presumption was

not overlooked when the QDRO was entered. Instead, it was meant to apply to the

 3
 division of pension benefits paid while the primary beneficiary was alive, but was

not applicable to "the survivor benefit payable pursuant to the Plan" after Mr.

Ross's death.

 (2) The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying attorneys'

fees pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(1). Because Ms. Pritchow wholly prevailed

on her claims, the district court was not required to consider the factors identified

in Hummell v. S.E. Rykoff & Co., 634 F.2d 446, 453 (9th Cir. 1980). See Nelson v.

EG & G Energy Measurements Grp., Inc., 37 F.3d 1384, 1392 (9th Cir. 1994). But

it was not an abuse of discretion to do so. Moreover, under the circumstances, it

would be unjust to award fees against the Plan, which, faced with a legitimate

dispute between competing beneficiaries, responded appropriately by filing this

interpleader action. See Smith v. CMTA-IAM Pension Trust, 746 F.2d 587, 589

(9th Cir. 1984).

 AFFIRMED.

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