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dealing with a divorce in military

By BreakUpAdviceOnline.com Staff

There is a big difference between divorces in the military and that of divorces on a civilian court. Divorce in the military follows a set of special laws that are not applicable to conventional civilian divorces. One example of this is that federal law entitles active members of the armed forces to delay a divorce in certain circumstances. Civilian divorces may not have such choice. This is because the military may have that important responsibility of protecting the nations that always take first priority. A divorce proceeding or any personal matters can surely take a step back. This privilege is only one of the points that make a military divorce different from that of any ordinary civilian.

Divorce in the military can also follow different procedures as to how entitlements and benefits are being settled. Alimony and child support in a military divorce are subject to special rules. Calculating military personnel’s income and how support is being collected can be more complicated because of regulations governing active or retired members of the military. Federal law may also affect where the parties end up in court. Planning a military divorce would require a thorough grasp of the special rules governing military divorce.

In the course of a military divorce, questions will usually arise as to what military benefits, if there is any, the former spouse might be entitled to. The USFSPA, in addition to authorizing direct payment of a portion of a military retirees pay to the former spouse, may extend some base privileges to certain former spouses depending on the circumstances. More and more, continued health benefits become an important factor during the course of the military divorce, since both parties may want to get a more acceptable settlement especially on the side of the former spouse with a serious pre-existing condition.

There are many misconceptions involving divorces in the military. This would usually come from confusion on certain issues like support, health and other military benefits concerning former spouses of military personnel. A former spouse of a military member may think that he or she will automatically receive a portion of the military retirement of a former military spouse. Some may think that they will receive a portion of a retirement to be based on the number of years together while in the military divided by the total number of years in service. But the reality of the matter is that it will depend on the circumstances surrounding the marriage up to the eventual divorce. The trial courts do not follow any particular formula in dividing retirement benefits. The court can sometimes base the division of the retirement on the date of separation and some other way that the court may deem fit. It is even possible that the trial court may allocate a little or no portion of the retirement at all to the non-military spouse if there are other assets and properties involved in the marriage.

Another issue about divorce in the military that can be misinterpreted is that a service member would be required to make a larger allocation to a former spouse while separated. The truth of the matter is that there is no requirement under state law that one should be sending funds to the other while separated. There might be certain requirements under military regulations under certain circumstances of the divorce case. But the service member is not required to apportion a larger amount than what is set before the separation.

Another misleading notion that others may easily believe is that delaying the filing of divorce papers will greatly benefit the service member in the military. Although it is a good decision not to file for divorce prematurely, delaying the filing may not always be as good. Trying to delay the divorce will only increase the size of the claim that a former spouse can declare against the retirement benefits of a service member. So will a spouse’s claim for maintenance since the length of the marriage is one of the factors considered in the divorce proceedings.

There are a lot of other misleading facts that may confuse people about divorce in the military. There are some intricacies in the divorce proceedings that may require the expertise of an experienced attorney. A divorce is a very serious situation and every effort should be done to have everything settled in the fastest way possible. Getting expert advice and support will help you get through with a military divorce without any problems.