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Buetow v. Buetow6/9/2000
Appeal from Butler District Court; JOHN M. JAWORSKY, judge.
Affirmed.
Rita D. Buetow appeals from the division of property in a divorce action. On appeal, Rita argues that the trial court erred in ruling that her former husband's disability award did not form part of the marital estate. We disagree and affirm.
Kevin W. Buetow was injured in a work-related accident while employed by Union Pacific Railroad. Less than 2 weeks after the accident, Kevin's wife, Rita, filed for divorce. The trial court granted a divorce and divided the marital property, but reserved ruling on whether Rita should receive a portion of Kevin's disability award until Kevin collected the settlement payment.
After Kevin received the lump sum disability payment, he moved for a determination of whether the award was part of the marital estate. The trial court determined that the disability award was not part of the marital estate because it compensated Kevin for "his personal injury , disability, and loss which extended beyond filing for divorce."
The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in determining that the disability award was not part of the marital estate. First, it is important to note that because Kevin suffered a work-related injury while working for Union Pacific Railroad, the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) governs his disability award. See 45 U.S.C. ยง 51 et seq. (1994). FELA provides the exclusive remedy for a railroad employee who is injured while his or her employer engages in interstate commerce. See Erie R.R. Co. v. Winfield, 244 U.S. 170, 61 L. Ed. 1057, 37 S. Ct. 556 (1917).
Kansas appellate courts have not previously addressed whether a disability award distributed under FELA is an asset subject to a division in a divorce. Although FELA benefits are awarded under a federal program, federal workers compensation awards are not immune from state law process. For example, in Gonzalez v. Gonzalez, 689 S.W.2d 383, 386 (Mo. App. 1985), the court held that an award distributed under FELA was marital property subject to division. Gonzalez rationalized that the Missouri courts could divide FELA benefits in divorce actions " ecause Congress has not 'positively required by direct enactment' in the F.E.L.A. statutes that state law relating to a division of property in a dissolution of marriage action be preempted." 689 S.W.2d at 386. We similarly find that Kansas courts are not preempted from dividing benefits awarded to a spouse under FELA, provided the benefits qualify as marital property. See generally Annot., 30 A.L.R. 5th 139.
When determining whether personal injury settlements and workers compensation benefits are marital property, courts apply two general approaches-- the mechanical and the analytical. See Parde v. Parde, 258 Neb. 101, 108-10, 602 N.W.2d 657 (1999). A minority of courts apply the mechanical approach. Under this approach, personal injury awards are categorized entirely as marital property. See 258 Neb. at 109. On the other hand, the analytical approach evaluates the nature and underlying reasons for the compensation. "'The core of the analytic approach is its recognition that the classification of the award depends upon the nature of the underlying loss.' [Citation omitted.]" 258 Neb. at 109; see generally Annot., 30 A.L.R. 5th 139.
The Kansas Court of Appeals applied the analytical approach in In re Marriage of Powell, 13 Kan. App. 2d 174, 766 P.2d 827 (1988), rev. denied 244 Kan. 737 (1989). In that case, the trial court awarded the wife one-half of the couple's cash assets, which included money received from the husband's personal injury settlement. The Powell court held that a pers
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