Breslin v. Synnott, 54 A.3d 525

Married in 1976, legally separated in 2001, and divorced in 2003; divorce order granted wife one-half of the pension, with remainder to husband.
A 2009 QDRO drafted by wife’s attorney erroneously awarded survivorship benefits to wife contrary to the divorce order.
Plan administrator approved and implemented the 2009 QDRO, resulting in survivorship payments to wife; husband did not object or appeal.
In 2010, the parties jointly filed a new QDRO omitting survivorship; the family division approved it, but the plan administrator rejected it in 2011 after payments had begun under the 2009 QDRO.
Husband moved to enforce in March 2011; August 2011 chambers conference ordered wife to execute a waiver to restore survivorship rights to husband; wife appeals.
Issue-focused ruling: the court affirmed the requirement of the waiver and held the 2009 QDRO was invalid and not entitled to preclusive effect.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Preclusion effect of 2009 QDRO	Breslin relied on claim preclusion to preserve 2009 QDRO	Synnott claimed the waiver enforces the underlying order	Preclusion does not apply; 2009 QDRO invalid; waiver enforceable.
Court jurisdiction to require waiver	Waiver to survivorship was beyond court power	Waiver necessary to enforce correct divorce terms	Court had ancillary jurisdiction to enforce underlying order; no modification of property division.
Requirement of hearing	Court should have held a hearing	No disputed facts; no hearing required	No abuse of discretion; hearing not required.

In re Town Highway No. 20, 2012 VT 17 (Vt. 2012) (de novo review on claim-preclusion issues; ancillary enforcement of orders)
Youngbluth v. Youngbluth, 2010 VT 40 (Vt. 2010) (finality limits modification absent grounds; enforcement context)
State v. Kornell, 169 Vt. 637 (1999) (ancillary jurisdiction to enforce underlying orders)
Sumner v. Sumner, 2004 VT 45 (Vt. 2004) (supplementary enforcement order not a modification of property division)