A little over three percent of all military marriages end in divorce. While that’s certainly lower than the civilian rate, it doesn’t mean that divorce in the military is all that uncommon.
Going through a divorce is never easy. And when you and/or your spouse is a member of the military, it can become even more complicated. By understanding how the military divorce process works, and what you can expect to take place, you can be more prepared.
For example, it might take longer for you to get divorced if one of you is on active duty or you’re permanently stationed overseas.
Military couples should also know about the role of the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act.
This Act provides federal regulations for the military and guides them to accept state laws on certain issues, such as military pensions, spousal support, and child support. Also, this Act lets the states classify military retired pay as property instead of income.
If you’re interested in learning more, then continue reading and we’ll go over everything that you’ll want to know.
Military Retirement Pay/Pension
For members of the military, direct retirement payments will be made through the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. In order for an ex-spouse to receive direct retirement payments, the couple needs to have been married for at least ten years. Also, those ten years of marriage need to overlap with ten years of service.
For example, if you were married for twelve years and one spouse was in the military for eight of those twelve years of marriage, then the other spouse wouldn’t be entitled to a direct payment from DFAS. However, if you were married for twelve years, and one spouse was in the military for ten of those twelve years, the other spouse would be entitled to a direct payment from DFAS.
If you don’t qualify for the DFAS direct pay, you might still be entitled to a portion of the payment. An ex-spouse can receive up to fifty percent of military retirement pay.
Where to File for Divorce
Your “domicile,” or legal residence, is a residency where you intend to remain. The location of this residence will determine where you can file for divorce or related proceedings, such as property division or equitable distribution of property. This residence can be especially difficult to determine when you or your spouse is in the military.
Your divorce lawyer will assess the question about residency by looking at what connections and contracts you have with your particular territory or state. These include your:
- mailing address
- vehicle registrations
- driver’s license
- voter registration
- passport
- taxes
“Home of Record” is a term used in the military but it doesn’t necessarily refer to a member’s domicile. It’s best to consult a lawyer to help you figure out where your domicile is and also help with the military divorce process in general.
Calculating the Marital Share for Active Members
There are several different ways for calculating how much of the pension an ex-spouse is entitled to. The document that’s filed with the court will have to state clearly the formula that’s used to calculate the amount of payment.
The duration of the marriage is going to come into play here. This is especially true for spouses who are serving in the Reserves.
There are three methods that can be used to determine the amount of payment. First is Net Present Value. This is more common if someone wants a buyout upfront.
There is also Deferred Distribution. With this method, a share amount is calculated at divorce. The receipt of the funds is deferred though until the service member retires.
Lastly, there’s Reserve Jurisdiction. This is also the most common method. In this scenario, the share that the ex-spouse receives is calculated at retirement.
20/20/20 Rule
After a divorce is finalized, a former military spouse who is not remarried can retain their military ID card and privileges if they meet the 20/20/20 rule. According to this rule, the couple needs to have been married for at least twenty years of marriage, there needs to have been at least twenty years of military service, and the marriage needs to have overlapped at least twenty years of service.
One’s Tricare eligibility is also determined by this rule. If you qualify under that rule, then you can be eligible for Tricare as long as you don’t get married again.
If you don’t qualify under the 20/20/20 rule, then Tricare has transitional coverage available under the 20/20/15 rule. This is the same as the 20/20/20 rule except that your marriage only needs to have overlapped the military service by at least fifteen years.
If you qualify under the 20/20/15 rule, then you may be eligible for Tricare for up to one year after the divorce, as long as you don’t remarry.
Remarriage
If you get remarried, then your military ID privileges will be terminated. Military regulations clearly state that a spouse loses their military ID card and related privileges if they get remarried.
A spouse who remarries should also turn in their military ID because it’s federal property and belongs to the government.
The Importance of Understanding Military Divorce
Hopefully, after reading the above article, you now feel that you have a better understanding of military divorce. By being prepared and knowing how factors like the length of your marriage affect the divorce outcomes, you should hopefully have a smoother divorce process.
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