## Facts

- Robert A. Horn and Cyndee L. Horn married June 8, 1974, and separated January 25, 1983.
- Robert played professional football from 1976 to 1984, including NFL seasons from 1976 through 1983 (largely during the marriage).
- A 1982 collective bargaining agreement created an NFL severance pay benefit for players with at least two credited seasons, payable as a lump sum calculated by seasons played.
- A later agreement required the player to state an intent to permanently retire and to sign a repayment note if he returned to professional football within 12 months; if the player died, the benefit was payable to a beneficiary or the estate.
- Robert became entitled to $100,000 in NFL severance pay.
- In dissolution proceedings, the trial court ruled the severance pay was community property and awarded Cyndee a community interest in it.

## Issues

1. Whether the NFL severance pay should be characterized as community property as deferred compensation for services performed during marriage.
2. Whether the severance pay should instead be characterized as separate property as a post-separation termination/readjustment benefit intended to replace future earnings.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment.
- The court held the NFL severance pay was community property because it functioned as deferred compensation earned through seasons played during the marital community.
- The court rejected the claim that the benefit was primarily a post-separation wage-loss or readjustment payment.

## Legal Principles

- Employment-related benefits are characterized by their economic function: deferred compensation for services performed during marriage is community property; benefits intended to replace post-separation earnings are generally separate property.
- A service-based accrual formula, vesting tied to completed service, and payment to a beneficiary or estate support classifying a benefit as earned compensation rather than future wage replacement.
- Labels such as “severance” are not controlling; courts compare the plan’s structure and purpose with termination-pay and other wage-replacement benefits to determine characterization.

## Conclusion

Because the NFL severance benefit was earned by length of service and operated as a vested right attributable to seasons played during the marriage, the severance pay was properly treated as community property, and the award of a community interest to the former spouse was affirmed.


In re Marriage of Horn, 181 Cal. App. 3d 540, 226 Cal. Rptr. 666 (Ct. App. 1986)