Request By:
Mr. John Horton, Coordinator
Planning & Evaluation Unit
Bureau of Vocational Education
2117 Capital Plaza Tower
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Stephen L. Frank, Assistant Attorney General
I am writing in response to your request dated December 21, 1982, for an Attorney General's opinion with regard to the applicability of KRS 161.700 to funds placed into a retirement account prior to the effective date of the statute. Specifically, you inquired whether a teachers' retirement account could be considered marital property in a divorce proceeding with respect to funds that were deposited into said account prior to the effective date of KRS 161.700(2), that date being July 1, 1980.
It is our opinion that KRS 161.700(2) clearly specifies that any "retirement allowance" shall not be considered as marital property; therefore, any allowance that is owed and payable to the member after July 1, 1980, cannot be considered in a divorce proceeding. KRS 161.700 does not speak to the date of deposit of the retirement fund, only the date of allowance; therefore there is no authority for a court to consider any retirement funds, even those funds deposited prior to July 1, 1980, in a decision regarding the division of marital property in a divorce proceeding taking place after July 1, 1980.
It is important to note that KRS 161.700 is not "retroactive" legislation and this opinion does not imply that said statute may be applied retroactively. We are merely concluding in this opinion that the clear language of KRS 161.700 dictates that all allowances from retirement accounts be excluded from consideration during the division of marital property, in a divorce action, regardless of the date of the deposit of said retirement funds.