Military Law and Divorce

Divorce and the military require a special knowledge of laws not applicable to civilian divorces. For example, federal legislation entitles active members of the armed forces to delay a divorce and to court-appointed counsel in certain circumstances. See the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act .

Military pensions like their civilian counterparts are divisible in the event of divorce, but are subject to different rules than the more common Qualified Domestic Relations Orders for private retirement accounts or Domestic Relations Orders for state and municipal pensions. See the US Code, Title 10, Chapter 71 - Computation of Retired Pay.

Alimony and child support are also subject to special rules. Calculating income and collecting support can be more complicated because of regulations governing active or retired members of the military. Familiarity with the definition of "disposable retirement income," for example, is key to establishing support orders when dealing with retired military personnel.

Federal law may also affect where the parties end up in court, so planning and strategizing require a thorough grasp of the special rules governing military divorce.

Choose a divorce lawyer familiar with military law or a lawyer willing to work with a consultant.

Selecting an Attorney to Handle a Military Divorce

It is critical to have an attorney that is knowledgeable in the law, either as the primary counsel, or expert advisor to the divorce attorney. In my experience it is more important to focus on finding the best domestic relations attorney you can afford rather than focusing on finding one who says that he/she is familiar with the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA). There are many vital issues in a divorce beyond the division of the retirement. An expert advisor can fill in the gaps in knowledge concerning the USFSPA, but such an advisor cannot make a mediocre attorney into a superior practitioner.

In selecting an attorney one should not make the mistake of assuming that an attorney is knowledgeable about the USFSPA just because he or she is a retired officer or judge advocate. It is also a mistake to assume that all legal assistance officers are familiar with the law. As the former director of the Air Force legal assistance program, I would like to think that all legal assistance officers are equipped to counsel members on the ins and outs of the Former Spouses' Protection Act. But this is absolutely not true. I won't give a litany of horror stories, but there are many.