Gorman

Plaintiff Helen L. Gorman and defendant Harold J. Gorman were formerly married to each other and will be referred to in this opinion as former wife and former husband. In 1972, former wife employed defendant Gordon T. Shepard, an attorney, to represent her in an action to secure a dissolution of the marriage. Default proceedings were had and the marriage was dissolved in 1972 by an interlocutory judgment entered May 3 and a final judgment entered October 26 in the Orange County Superior Court. Prior to the separation of the parties on March 22, 1972, former husband had retired from the military service, and at the time of the dissolution was receiving monthly payments on account of longevity retirement from the military service, payable for life. The interest in the military retirement was not included in the property listed in former wife’s petition for dissolution of marriage and, although the fact that former husband was receiving military retirement pay was expressly mentioned in the default hearing in connection with spousal and child support, the petition was not amended and the interest in the retirement benefits was neither mentioned nor disposed of in either the…