In Re Marriage of Chambers

In Henn v. Henn (1980) 26 Cal.3d 323 [ 161 Cal.Rptr. 502 , 605 P.2d 10 ] the California Supreme Court held the doc trines of res judicata and collateral estoppel did not bar a spouse from recovering his or her community interest in the vested and matured military pension benefits omitted from the petition and later judgment of dissolution of marriage. The Henn court qualified full retroactive enforcement of such rights, however, by allowing the military retiree to raise the defenses of equitable estoppel and laches. (Id. at pp. 332-333.) In such cases the trial court must apply equitable principles to prevent unfairness to a spouse who may have placed substantial reliance on the judgment. (Hill v. Hattrem (1981) 117 Cal.App.3d 569, 574 [ 172 Cal.Rptr. 806 ].)

The question in this case is whether the court improperly considered the effective date of the Federal Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act (FUSFSPA) in precluding Barbara Chambers from obtaining full retroactive recovery of her share in her former husband’s military retirement. The court ruled Barbara had the burden of proving why she was entitled to receive a share of military retirement payments…