## Facts

- Billy L. Allard and Billie J. Allard married in 1945 and remained married until Mrs. Allard died in April 1983.
- During the marriage, Mr. Allard worked for General Dynamics and participated in an employer retirement plan funded with community earnings.
- Upon retirement in May 1982, Mr. Allard elected a lifetime-benefits option with a guaranteed ten-year minimum; Mrs. Allard did not sign the election.
- Mr. Allard began receiving monthly retirement payments in June 1982 and continued receiving them after Mrs. Allard’s death.
- The spouses maintained a joint savings account that included survivorship language in the account paperwork.
- Mrs. Allard’s January 1983 will was admitted to probate; her sister, Martha Parten Frech, served as independent executrix.
- In the probate proceeding, the parties tried only valuation and characterization disputes concerning the retirement benefits and the joint savings account.
- The probate court approved an inventory and awarded Mrs. Allard’s estate one-half of the retirement benefits and one-half of the joint savings account funds.

## Issues

1. Whether retirement benefits funded with community earnings during marriage are community property in probate so that the decedent’s one-half interest passes under her will.
2. Whether the joint savings account created a valid right of survivorship or remained community property with one-half belonging to the decedent’s estate.
3. Whether Texas should adopt a “terminable interest rule” ending the non-employee spouse’s community interest in pension benefits at the death of either spouse.

## Decision

- The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals and the probate court.
- The retirement benefits attributable to community contributions during marriage were community property; Mrs. Allard’s one-half interest did not end at death and passed to her estate.
- The court declined to adopt a terminable-interest rule for pension benefits.
- The survivorship language associated with the joint savings account did not create a valid survivorship arrangement on these facts; the account remained community property, and one-half belonged to Mrs. Allard’s estate.

## Legal Principles

- Retirement benefits earned during marriage through community earnings are community property, and each spouse owns a divisible one-half interest.
- A decedent’s one-half community interest in retirement benefits is inheritable and does not terminate upon death absent a legally effective arrangement changing ownership.
- An employee spouse’s election of a particular retirement payment option may affect the form and timing of benefits but does not, by itself, change the community character of benefits earned during marriage.
- Creation of survivorship rights in community bank account funds requires compliance with Texas formal requirements; generic survivorship language in account documents may be insufficient.

## Conclusion

The court held that retirement benefits funded with community earnings and the disputed joint savings account were community property, and it confirmed that the decedent’s one-half interest in those assets became part of her estate rather than terminating at death.


Allard v. Frech, 754 S.W.2d 111 (Tex. 1988)