Military Divorce Lawyer - Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina
Military Lawyers of SRIS Law Group P.C.
Divorce is never easy. The stresses of contemporary life make keeping a marriage together much more difficult than in the past. When military service by one or even both partners enters the picture, it's even harder.
With the conflict in Iraq, military divorce cases have greatly increased. Since the Iraq War started, the divorce rate among active-duty Army officers and enlisted personnel has nearly doubled, this according to a
Military.com report. In fact, officers actually have a greater percentage of failed marriages than enlisted individuals.
The stress and emotional scars of combat have found their way into the partners private lives, and then into the Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, & North Carolinadivorce courts.
A Union of Federal and State Regulations
Unlike civilian cases, military divorce in Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts is a complex and convoluted combination of both Federal and state law.
Along with the individual Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina divorce statutes, there are also these Federal regulations regarding military divorces:
- Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA)
- The Survivor Benefit Plan
- Military Disability Pay
- The Service Members' Civil Relief Act
USFSPA
The USFSPA controls the amount of
money a spouse is entitled to from the service member's
disposable retirement fund.
Even though this law authorizes the payments, it does
not specify what those payments should be. That's left
up to the individual states to come up with their own
equitable formula to divide the property and any
retirement pay in military divorce cases.
The operative guiding principle here is the word "disposable
income." There is a rather long list of items that
are not considered part of this disposable retirement
pay, including:
- Money owed the federal government
- Money deducted to pay for fines resulting from a
court martial
- Money deducted to pay for forfeitures resulting
from a court martial
- Military disability benefits
- Veteran's Administration disability compensation
- Premiums from survivor benefit plans
Some divorcing military personnel (and military
divorce lawyers) can and do take advantage of these laws
in order to rightly (or wrongly) limit the amount of
money their spouse will eventually receive.
Experienced military divorce lawyers are well versed
in these tactics, and the military divorce attorneys at
SRIS PC know the ins and outs of how these laws should
be equitably applied.
"10 Year Rule"
Another area where military divorce lawyers
must be totally familiar is the so-called "10 Year
Rule." Basically, if there is a 10 year overlap between
the marriage and the military service earning retirement
pay, the courts can automatically deduct and transfer to
the spouse a portion of the retirement payments from the
service member's retirement account.
Under ten years and the courts can still direct
deductions, but they won't be automatically garnished.
The service member would have the obligation to pay it
him or her self. The ten year rule also is applicable to
determine whether the non-service spouse is entitled to
continued health care benefits and commissary
privileges.
As mentioned, this is a complex issue. Without the
help of an experienced military divorce lawyer, one
partner stands a good chance of not receiving their
rightful and full share of the benefits due them. The
military divorce lawyers at SRIS PC stand ready to help
their clients navigate the difficulties involved.
Federal Law Directs, State Law Determines
As you've read, while Federal regulations may govern
many aspects of military divorce, it's usually state law
that determines how the property of divorcing military
couples will be eventually distributed.
For instance, Virginia makes distinctions between
marital and separate properties. Military retirement
plans and pensions are considered marital property as
long as they were accrued during the actual marriage.
Property and money accrued before the marriage or after
the legal separation usually is not.
The procedures for determining who gets what in
Virginia falls under the tangle of regulations known as
Virginia Code Section 20-107.3. It is a lengthy list of
most of the possible circumstances and contingencies
which can and do affect marital distribution of
property, including those in military divorce cases.
Military Divorce Lawyers at SRIS PC
The
military divorce attorneys at SRIS PC know
how taxing and trying divorce cases can be. Coming right
down to it, the only divorce case that matters to our
clients is the one they're personally experiencing.
Military divorces are no different.
Military divorces however do often have
unique sets of circumstances. Many times the
spouses are physically separated during most of the
divorce process due to deployment or other service
related factors. Also consider that under military law,
adultery by a service person or officer can be viewed as
a punishable offense, while state courts usually turn
more a less a blind eye to infidelities.
Then there are the innocent victims of divorce - the
spouse's children. How can a service man or woman sue
for custody when they're half way around the world in
armed conflict - with no idea if their tour of duty will
be extended or not?
The military divorce attorneys on our staff have
hands-on experience with all these trying issues and
concerns.
If you or your spouse are in the military and are
considering divorce, or if you've already been served
with divorce papers, you owe it to yourself to get the
finest legal advice possible, from military divorce
lawyers who'll make sure your case is handled
professionally, carefully, and equitably.
Please give us a call at 888-437-7747 to arrange an
initial consultation. The first meeting is always
without cost or obligation on your part - so there's no
excuse in not at least investigating all your legal
options.
And remember, anything you discuss with our military
divorce attorneys at your meeting remains absolutely
confidential. Rest assured what you bring to us in
confidence will stay in confidence. No exceptions, no
excuses.
