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CourtListener opinion 43436

Date unknown · US

Extracted case name
pending
Extracted reporter citation
131 F.3d 1120
Docket / number
04-31184 -2- district
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 43436 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

rejected on the basis that Audry Gaudet's interest was contingent upon her husband's interest. The district court noted also that the Government's lien created by the filing of the restitution order primed the lien established by the filing of a purported qualified domestic relations order. The Gaudets contend only that, as a matter of state law, Audry Gaudet's community property interest vested at the moment of the acquisition of the property. The Gaudets have not shown that the district court plainly erred. See Crawford, 131 F.3d at 1123. No. 04-31184 -4- Moreover, even if we were to determine that the district court plainly erred,

pension

s court has discretion to correct the forfeited error, discretion that should not be exercised "‘unless the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.'" Id. (quoting Olano). The Gaudets contend that the pension benefits held by the LUCPF are exempt from seizure under the anti-alienation provision of ERISA and that the garnishment order is contrary to the Supreme Court's decision in Guidry v. Sheet Metal Workers Nat'l Pension Fund, 493 U.S. 365, 376 (1990), and this court's decision in Herberger v. Shanbaum, 897 F.2d 801, 804 (5th Cir. 1990). The Gaudets cont

ERISA

nless the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.'" Id. (quoting Olano). The Gaudets contend that the pension benefits held by the LUCPF are exempt from seizure under the anti-alienation provision of ERISA and that the garnishment order is contrary to the Supreme Court's decision in Guidry v. Sheet Metal Workers Nat'l Pension Fund, 493 U.S. 365, 376 (1990), and this court's decision in Herberger v. Shanbaum, 897 F.2d 801, 804 (5th Cir. 1990). The Gaudets contend that the district court's decision constitutes an improper retroactive application of the 199

domestic relations order

n the basis that Audry Gaudet's interest was contingent upon her husband's interest. The district court noted also that the Government's lien created by the filing of the restitution order primed the lien established by the filing of a purported qualified domestic relations order. The Gaudets contend only that, as a matter of state law, Audry Gaudet's community property interest vested at the moment of the acquisition of the property. The Gaudets have not shown that the district court plainly erred. See Crawford, 131 F.3d at 1123. No. 04-31184 -4- Moreover, even if we were to determine that the district court plainly erred,

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: 131 F.3d 1120 · docket: 04-31184 -2- district
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

United States Court of Appeals
 Fifth Circuit
 F I L E D
 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
 June 29, 2006
 FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
 Charles R. Fulbruge III
 Clerk
 No. 04-31184
 Summary Calendar

 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
 Plaintiff-Appellee,

 versus

 STANLEY J. GAUDET,
 Defendant-Appellant,

 AUDRY GAUDET,
 Appellant.

 --------------------
 Appeal from the United States District Court
 for the Eastern District of Louisiana
 USDC No. 2:89-CR-523-K
 --------------------

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, BENAVIDES, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

 Stanley J. Gaudet and Audry Gaudet appeal the district court's

order of garnishment requiring the Sheet Metal Workers' Local

Unions and Councils (LUCPF) to remit to the Government any property

in its possession up to the amount of the restitution order entered

in this criminal case. The notice of appeal was timely filed.

FED. R. APP. P. 4(a)(1)(B).

 The Government contends that the court should not consider the

Gaudets's substantive issues because they were not asserted in the

 *
 Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
 No. 04-31184
 -2-

district court. We review an "unpreserved error in a civil case

using the plain-error standard of review." Crawford v. Falcon

Drilling Co., Inc., 131 F.3d 1120, 1123 (5th Cir. 1997). Under the

plain-error standard, "‘there must be an error that is plain and

that affects substantial rights.'" Id. (quoting United States v.

Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732 (1993)). If such error is present, this

court has discretion to correct the forfeited error, discretion

that should not be exercised "‘unless the error seriously affects

the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial

proceedings.'" Id. (quoting Olano).

 The Gaudets contend that the pension benefits held by the

LUCPF are exempt from seizure under the anti-alienation provision

of ERISA and that the garnishment order is contrary to the Supreme

Court's decision in Guidry v. Sheet Metal Workers Nat'l Pension

Fund, 493 U.S. 365, 376 (1990), and this court's decision in

Herberger v. Shanbaum, 897 F.2d 801, 804 (5th Cir. 1990). The

Gaudets contend that the district court's decision constitutes an

improper retroactive application of the 1997 amendment to 29 U.S.C.

§ 1056(d) legislatively overruling Guidry. See United States v.

Irving, 432 F.3d 401, 417 (2d Cir. 2005).

 In issuing the garnishment order, the district court noted

that this court had determined repeatedly that the restitution

order was lawful. The district court noted that the Gaudets had

not responded adequately to its order requiring them to demonstrate

that the pension benefits were exempt from seizure, an issue on
 No. 04-31184
 -3-

which they bore the burden of persuasion. See 28 U.S.C.

§ 3014(b)(2). The Gaudets have not shown that the district court's

decision was plainly erroneous. See Crawford, 131 F.3d at 1123.

 The Gaudets contend also that the debt underlying the

restitution order has been extinguished because a bonding company

has compensated the union and the pension funds for their losses.

There is no support in the record for this argument. Issues raised

for the first time on appeal that involve factual determinations

that could have been resolved in the district court generally do

not rise to the level of plain error. Robertson v. Plano City of

Texas, 70 F.3d 21, 23 (5th Cir. 1995).

 The Gaudets contend also that Audry Gaudet has a community

property interest in the pension benefits. In issuing the

garnishment order, the district court noted that Audry Gaudet's

interest in the pension benefits had been litigated in a civil

action filed by the Gaudets and had been rejected on the basis that

Audry Gaudet's interest was contingent upon her husband's interest.

The district court noted also that the Government's lien created by

the filing of the restitution order primed the lien established by

the filing of a purported qualified domestic relations order. The

Gaudets contend only that, as a matter of state law, Audry Gaudet's

community property interest vested at the moment of the acquisition

of the property. The Gaudets have not shown that the district

court plainly erred. See Crawford, 131 F.3d at 1123.
 No. 04-31184
 -4-

 Moreover, even if we were to determine that the district court

plainly erred, we would not exercise our discretion to correct the

error. Any error on the part of the district court in ordering the

garnishment of the union pension did not seriously affect the

fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.

See id. The district court's order is

 AFFIRMED.