Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think the issue is that some dependents think the military gives them benefits. It doesn't. The husband signed the paperwork, raised his right hand, and has served. The military offers him benefits and one of those benefits is medical care for his dependents. Again: They didn't give ME medical care - they gave HIM medical care for his dependents. They gave him the benefit that his dependents had access to resources, activities, et al. They didn't give them to ME - they gave that to him.
I didn't sacrifice diddly-squat for this country nor for the USAF. I did make decisions that were in the best interest of our marriage and our family and I would have done that no matter what his job. The idea that military spouses are some breed of super special snowflake just because of what their spouse does is frankly insulting. I'm an awesome person, an independent person, and a kick ass wife and mom because I'm me. My husband's job has nothing to do with who I am as a person.
And the laws about forcing the amount of retirement pay in the event of a divorce are absolute crap.
I don't believe it is a male/female issue or a military/civilian issue. I think the courts just follow the law. I believe the law looks at the length of the marriage and considers what was amassed in that time frame. It's not a matter of what's fair. That would be a matter of who you choose to fight for you as an attorney. I have two female civilian friends who've had to split their retirement accounts in a divorce of their civilian male spouses. So that is debunked. I do not know of any military personnel who divorced with their retirement intact, maybe others could chime in...maybe a prenuptial would be valid.
I'd go as far as to say why even get married knowing that the divorce rate is over 50% in the civilian world! much higher in the armed forces. My spouse received his lifetime retirement card last year. My new DOD card was for seven years? Statistically, that says a lot. I'm not mad about it or have any expectations because I'm my own woman. Everyone should be mindful of whom you pick as a partner, whether military or civilian. That is why I say marriage is a contract and YOU set the terms. And if one produces children out of wedlock damn right they need to take care of them, even after you decide their other parent wasn't the one for you. Life's not fair but fortunately we still have free will to make our own choices.
The law state a spouse of 10 years gets half. It doesn't matter about your attorney or the judge. That is the law. It doesn't matter the circumstances, that is the law. YOU don't set the terms when the law says the spouse is entitled to half and doesn't make room for circumstances.
dmarie: you make it sound like it is law that they get a mandatory half. The "law" does not mandate 50 / 40 / 30 / 20 or any other percent of your retired pay. Nada. That comes out of a court ordered settlement that the Federal Government adheres / agrees to support. Some judge found that number, not any blanket policy. The Federal Govt is only required to support the court ordered decision. Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act for Divorced Spouses in the Military.
If I mistook your understanding of this Act / percentages, okay. Mea culpa. And no, not a spouse. If my wife divorces me, I have no doubt she can take me to the cleaners on this (married since I was a tadpole 1LT in the 90s).
Ok. Wow. I stand completely and utterly corrected and I appologize for my last posts. I was always told/taught that a spouse divorcing after x number of years gets half the retirement pay, and I know countless people personally that this has happened to. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know.
I guess some states MIGHT have that as a law, accourding to the articles, but you're right, it does depend on the judge and attorney.
The Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA), 10 U.S.C. 1408, accomplishes two things:
It recognizes the right of state courts to distribute military retired pay to a spouse or former spouse (hereafter, the former spouse), and
It provides a method of enforcing these orders through the Department of Defense.
The USFSPA does not automatically entitle a former spouse to a portion of the member's retired pay. A former spouse must have been awarded a portion of a member's military retired pay as property in their final court order. The USFSPA also provides a method of enforcing current and/or previously owed (arrears) child support and current alimony awarded in the court order. For more information, please see the regulation.
Court orders enforceable under the USFSPA include final decrees of divorce, dissolution, annulment, and legal separation, and court-ordered property settlements incident to such decrees. The pertinent court order must provide for the payment of child support, alimony, or retired pay as property, to a former spouse.
No, there is no Federal law that automatically entitles a former spouse to a portion of a member’s military retired pay. A former spouse must have been awarded a portion of a member’s military retired pay in a State court order. The Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act (USFSPA), Title 10, United States Code, Section 1408, passed in 1981, accomplishes two things. First, it authorizes (but does not require) State courts to divide military retired pay as a marital asset or as community property in a divorce proceeding. Second, it provides a mechanism for a former spouse to enforce a retired pay as property award by direct payments from the member’s retired pay. Retired pay as property payments are prospective only. Retired pay arrears cannot be collected under the USFSPA.
MORE INFO, PDF File - Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA), 10 U.S.C. from the DEFENSE TECHNICAL INFORMATION CENTER, which includes info from each state: www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA452505
the employers don't but the courts do, based on the divorce papers.
Exactly.
What is considered community property varies by states and even then is open to interpretation by a judge. You wouldn't think frequent flyer miles would be included in a estate for divorce purposes, but they often are. So when a airline is served with papers diving up a man's points they have no choice but to comply.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
