Marriage of Haynes CA1/5

BACKGROUND

1. Trial Court Proceedings In May 2023 the Solano Superior Court entered a judgment dissolving David and Teletha Haynes’s nearly 28-year marriage.3 Besides dissolving the marriage, the judgment says that part of Teletha’s benefits in the Federal Employees Retirement System is subject to equal division of the community estate by the standard mechanism: a qualified domestic relations order.4 On October 9, 2024, the court held the first of several hearings on David’s request for order to enforce the judgment’s division of retirement benefits. David had counsel; Teletha did not. David asked the court to enter his proposed qualified domestic relations order as to Teletha’s Federal Employees Retirement System benefits (FERS QDRO) while Teletha objected, arguing the FERS QDRO’s division differs from the judgment’s. Ultimately, the court granted David’s request over Teletha’s objection and directed David’s counsel to prepare a written findings and order after hearing (Order After Hearing; see Cal. Rules of Court, rules 5.125, 5.7(a), 1.31; Judicial Council Forms, form FL-340), which she did. The next day, on October 10, 2024, the court filed the first order, the FERS QDRO,…