710 A.2d 408 (N.H. 05/19/1998)

[1]	New Hampshire Supreme Court
[2]	No. 96-455
[3]	710 A.2d 4085/19/1998 forcement would be unconscionable, and the other party can be returned to the status quo. See Curran Company v. State, 106 N.H. 558, 560, 215 A.2d 702, 703-04 (1965). A mistake is "a belief that is not in accord with the facts." Hillside Assocs. of Hollis v. Maine Bonding & Cas. Co., 135 N.H. 325, 332, 605 A.2d 1026, 1029 (1992) (quotation omitted). "A party bears the risk of a mistake when . . . he is aware, at the time the contract is made, that he has only limited knowledge with respect to the facts to which the mistake relates but treats his limited knowledge as sufficient." Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 154(b) at 402-03 (1981). "It is sometimes said in such a situation that, in a sense, there was not mistake but conscious ignorance." Id. comment c at 404 (quotation omitted); see McIsaac v. McMurray, 77 N.H. 466, 475, 93 A. 115, 120 (1915). Assuming, without deciding, that the doctrine of unilateral mistake applies in this situation, we conclude that when the petitioner withdrew her accumulated contributions, her state of mind was not one of mistake, but of "conscious ignorance." Confronted by financial pressures at the time, she made a conscious and deliberate choice to withdraw her contributions. Although she claims that she would not have withdrawn her contributions had she known that she was waiving her rights to receive future benefits, the waiver in the withdrawal form expressly notified her that she may have had other rights. She bore the responsibility to inquire as to their specific nature. In fact, the board provides counseling services for its members, and publishes and disseminates brochures specifically describing available disability benefits. By ignoring the waiver and other available sources of information, the petitioner assumed the risk of waiving a greater benefit than she received. See Cohen v. North Ridge Farms, Inc., 712 F. Supp. 1265, 1271 (E.D. Ky. 1989) (no unilateral mistake because buyer assumed express risk of loss in sales contract). For the foregoing reasons, the board's decision is affirmed. The petitioner has not obtained the requisite employment to re- establish her membership in the NHRS, see RSA 100-A:3, VI(a), nor is her ongoing receipt of workers' compensation benefits sufficient to do so, see RSA 100-A:3, VI(a)-(b). Thus, we need not address the issue of petitioner's eligibility for disability retirement benefits had she been able to buy back her prior service credit pursuant to RSA 100-A:3, VI(a)-(c). See RSA 100- A:6. Affirmed. All concurred.

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