## Facts

- George Taggart entered the U.S. Navy on June 5, 1943.
- Ann Taggart and George Taggart married on October 7, 1947, and divorced on January 5, 1968.
- The divorce decree did not address George’s military retirement benefits.
- On July 1, 1964, George completed 20 years of active duty and elected placement in the Fleet Reserve under federal law.
- George retired from the Navy on April 1, 1974, after completing the service required for retirement based on years of service.
- After the 1974 retirement, Ann sued to recover her share of retirement pay received from April 1, 1974 forward.
- Ann did not claim any share of Fleet Reserve (retainer) pay earned before the 1974 retirement.

## Issues

1. Whether a spouse has a community-property interest in military retirement benefits attributable to service during marriage when the benefits had not matured or become payable at the time of divorce.
2. If so, how to calculate the community share when the service supporting the retirement benefit spans periods before marriage, during marriage, and after divorce.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Texas reversed the court of civil appeals, which had rendered a take-nothing judgment against Ann.
- The court held that Ann owned a community-property share of the contingent right to military retirement benefits attributable to service during the marriage, even though the right had not matured at divorce.
- The court reformed the trial court’s award because the fractional computation was incorrect.
- The court applied a time-rule calculation based on total months of service (360) and months of marriage overlapping with service (246), awarding Ann one-half of 246/360 of each retirement payment.
- As reformed, the trial court’s judgment was affirmed, including the mechanism requiring George to remit Ann’s share from each payment.

## Legal Principles

- In Texas, retirement benefits earned through employment during marriage are community property to the extent attributable to service during marriage, even if the right to receive payments is contingent and unmatured at the time of divorce.
- When a retirement benefit is supported by service both inside and outside the marriage, the community portion is determined by a time-rule fraction: (months of credited service during marriage) / (total months of credited service producing the benefit).
- The nonemployee spouse’s recoverable interest is typically one-half of the community fraction of each payment as it is received.
- Divorce courts and counsel must identify and divide retirement benefits as marital assets to avoid later partition litigation.

## Conclusion

The court treated unmatured military retirement benefits attributable to marital service as divisible community property and required apportionment by a service-time fraction, reforming the award to one-half of 246/360 of each retirement payment.


Taggart v. Taggart, 552 S.W.2d 422 (Tex. 1977)