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Walker v. Walker3/19/1999
Judges: Authored by J. Robin Hunt Concurring: J. Dean Morgan Elaine M. Houghton
John Walker appeals the distribution of marital assets in a dissolution action in which he was awarded his pension plan and a portion of a 401K plan. He argues that the trial court: improperly valued his pension based on mortality tables, which should not apply to his life expectancy because he has a chronic disease; and failed to consider the tax consequences of distributing the 401K plan. We affirm.
FACTS
John and Toni Walker had known each other since before high school; they married on July 5, 1975. They had three children. John graduated from West Point with an engineering degree. After serving in the military, John found work in a Port Townsend paper mill.
Toni graduated from high school and the Metro Beauty School. She left the practice of cosmetology after ten years, worked odd jobs throughout the marriage, and at the time of the dissolution trial, was employed as an educational assistant in the Port Townsend School District. The job was part-time. But she loved the work, she found it emotionally satisfying, it allowed her to be home with the children, and there were opportunities for advancement. Toni felt that for the first time in her life, she had a secure job with benefits.
Beginning in 1992, five years before the dissolution, Toni noticed that John's personality began to change. They had no intimacy or emotional attachment; John was not interested in counseling. Toni complained that John "wasn't the same person I married at all, and it got continually worse, and I didn't understand why." In 1994, John was demoted at the Port Townsend Paper Corporation for making mistakes on the job. Two years later, in 1996, John left the paper mill; unable to continue employment, John was diagnosed with Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is a chronic progressive brain disorder that results in spasmodic, abnormal body movements, dementia, and ultimately, death.
Huntington's disease is also hereditary. John's mother died of Huntington's disease at age 71, and his uncle, at age 58. John's grandmother may have died of the disease at age 70. John has two brothers, one of whom may have the disease. But his only sister does not have the Huntington's gene.
An experimental surgical procedure might stop progression of the disease; it involves implanting fetal cells into John's brain. This surgery might cost about $46,000, including lodging. John's sister testified that he needed a current MRI and then an assessment before any decision regarding his eligibility for this surgery would be made; if John were accepted for the surgery, the waiting period would be about one year, maybe less.
At the time of trial, John was receiving $1,407 in social security benefits and $448.21 in long-term disability benefits; his living expenses were $1,678 per month. John can live in his late father's home as long as he can cover the expenses. John had a vested and mature retirement plan with the paper company, allowing him to elect either a lump-sum distribution of $42,965.74 or a life annuity of $989.21 per month; if he elected the annuity, his long-term disability payment of $448.21 per month would cease. John elected the monthly annuity, thus bringing his monthly income to $2,396.21.
The Washington State Insurance Commission mortality tables indicated that John, who was age 45 at the time, had a remaining life expectancy of 29.62 years. Based on these tables, the court valued John's annuity at $153,331. John objected to the application of these tables to a person with Huntington's disease, but he presented no evidence of shortened life
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