Military Divorce Lawyer

Military families are just like civilian families, except one, or both spouses are enlisted in the military. Just like in a civilian family, divorce can still happen. There are some legal issues that military personnel in the separating spouse should know so that an informed decision can be made before deciding on a divorce.

Unfortunately, when it comes to military divorces, there are a lot of misconceptions that need to be clarified. If you are a service member, there are some perks and privileges that you are entitled to and they are important to know before going into a divorce. This doesn’t mean that your spouse is going to be at an unfair disadvantage because of your status in the military.

Here are the most common misconceptions about divorce in the military:

• The previous spouse is entitled to half of the pension given to the military spouse

 This is a common misconception that many people believe. When you are married to someone in the military, it does not give you the automatic entitlement to the allocated pension. The amount of tension the spouse receives depends on how long they were married while someone was enlisted in the military.

Let’s say a military spouse has been in service for 20 years but has only been married for 10, the spouse is potentially entitled to half the pension that was earned in those 10 years of marriage

• Military spouses cannot receive custody of the children

 This simply isn’t true. A military service member has every right to fight for the custody of their children. It is important to remember that as an active military service member deployments and transfers can occur at any time. Your best bet is to contact a military divorce lawyer to give you advice when it comes to the custody of your children.

• Upon divorce, the spouse that is not in service does not receive any health or missionary benefits

In this situation, the length of the marriage matters greatly. It is often a big worry for the spouse not in service to think that they’re going to lose all their benefits during the divorce. In the military, there is a 20/20/20 rule that applies when it comes the benefits allocated to the military personnel and their family members.

Let’s say the marriage lasted for 20 years, the military service has served for 20 years, and there is a 20 year overlap. This would mean that the former spouse could be entitled to all the benefits included. However, if the rule has not been met, then the former spouse could be entitled to at least one year of medical privileges after the divorce is final.

Going through a divorce is hard and if you are in the military, it can feel even harder. This is why we suggest contacting a military divorce lawyer like our friends at Robinson & Hadeed for more information about what a divorce entails.