By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a circuit judge’s ruling that held a man liable for the decreased market value of his ex-wife’s half of his retirement account following their divorce.

The high court said Mark Duncan had no control over the account’s loss in value, which resulted from a drop in the stock market.

Cheryl Ann Duncan filed for divorce from her husband in Cleburne County in November 2006, and in May 2007 the two entered into a settlement agreement that required them to split all vested retirement, profit sharing, 401(k), stock or other accounts in their joint or individual names that were accumulated during their marriage.

In its opinion Thursday, the Supreme Court said that according to testimony, an accountant segregated Cheryl Duncan’s share of the retirement plan into a separate account in 2007, but she initially disputed the value of her portion, which at that time was $319,000. Duncan claimed then that her portion should be closer to $400,000.

By the time Cheryl Duncan collected payment in 2009, the stock market’s drop had reduced the value of her portion by nearly $116,000.

She argued in Cleburne County Circuit Court that her husband should be ordered to make up the difference, and a circuit judge ruled in her favor.

The Supreme Court on Thursday overturned that ruling, saying in its opinion that once Cheryl Duncan’s portion of the retirement plan was segregated from her ex-husband’s, her ex-husband had no control over its value. Her tardiness in collecting payment did not make her ex-husband liable for the reduced amount, the court said.

“We conclude that the circuit court clearly erred in awarding appellee $115,936.81 where the losses due to market fluctuation occurred after appellee’s portion of appellant’s retirement plan had been segregated,” Justice Jim Gunter wrote in the opinion.

Justice Karen Baker did not participate in the decision.