Preview:

****************************************************** The ``officially released'' date that appears near the beginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the ``officially released'' date appearing in the opinion. In no event will any such motions be accepted before the ``officially released'' date. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears on the Commission on Official Legal Publications Electronic Bulletin Board Service and in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. ******************************************************

BARBARA BAUER v. STEVEN BAUER (AC 31508)
Bishop, Gruendel and Peters, Js. Argued April 19--officially released July 12, 2011

(Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford, Alvord, J. [dissolution judgment, motion for clarification]; Frazzini, J. [motion to dismiss]) Steven R. Dembo, with whom, on the brief, was P. Jo Anne Burgh, for the appellant (defendant). Kenneth J. Bartschi, with whom were Kimberly A. Knox and, on the brief, Frederick F. Ward II, for the

appellee (plaintiff).

Opinion

BISHOP, J. The defendant, Steven Bauer, appeals from the trial court's judgment granting a motion for clarification filed by the plaintiff, Barbara Bauer, regarding certain financial orders rendered in the court's earlier judgment of dissolution of marriage. The defendant claims that the court's clarification regarding the division of his pension accounts amounted to an impermissible modification of the dissolution judgment. We agree and, accordingly, reverse the judgment of the trial court. The following factual and procedural history is relevant to the resolution of the defendant's appeal. On October 12, 2005, the court rendered judgment dissolving the parties' marriage and entered orders regarding alimony and assets. On August 14, 2008, the plaintiff filed a motion for contempt, alleging that the judgment required the defendant to divide his New Britain General Hospital pension and annuity 403 (b) plans via a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). Subsequently, on January 23, 2009, when the plaintiff learned that the defendant disputed whether the judgment contained such a requirement regarding his pension assets, she filed a motion for clarification of the judgment of dissolution.1 In response, the defendant filed an objection to the motion for clarification. On June 10, 2009, the court issued a memorandum of decision granting the motion for clarification, stating: ``The court's memorandum of decision, issued October 12, 2005, set forth the parties' agreement to split equally the defendant's New Britain General Hospital pension and annuity 403 (b) plans, both accrued over the course of the marriage. That agreement was not repeated in the court's subsequent listed orders. Because there is an alleged ambiguity or incompleteness in the decision of the trial court . . . this court will clarify that, pursuant to the parties' stipulation: The defendant is ordered to split equally his New Britain General Hospital pension and annuity 403 (b) plan, accrued over the course of the marriage, with the plaintiff . . . via [a] qualified domestic relations order (QDRO).'' (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) On June 30, 2009, the defendant filed a motion for reargument and reconsideration, which the trial court denied. This appeal followed.2 ``It is well established that [t]he court's judgment in an action for dissolution of a marriage is final and binding [on] the parties, where no appeal is taken therefrom, unless and to the extent that statutes, the common law or rules of [practice] permit the setting aside or modification of that judgment. Under Practice Book [

Download Bauer v. Bauer.pdf

Connecticut Law