Deciding how to split up a couple’s
accumulated assets is a challenging but necessary task before any divorce can
be finalized. This already tough job can be made even more complicated if one
or both spouses is an active duty or retired member of the military. In such situations,
one of the couple’s biggest assets is almost always the military spouse’s
pension. This pension, and all the rules that come along with it, make military
divorces generally more complex than those of nonmilitary families.
Military pensions are often worth
significant amounts of money and more than the dollar figure, an added benefit
is that the money is guaranteed for the rest of the military spouse’s life. The
Wall Street Journal says that a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force who has put in
30 years of service will receive a pension worth $72,288 a year. The pensions
are not paid in lump sums, but if they were, the present day value of the
pension would easily exceed $1 million. What makes this even more valuable is
that there is no minimum retirement age. It’s conceivable that someone who
enlisted at 18 could retire at 38 and go on to receive a pension, including
yearly cost of living increases, for decades into the future.
The state in which a spouse files the
divorce petition can be one challenging aspect of the division of a military
retirement pension. This can be tricky because, while a service member may be
stationed at a base in Ohio, they may have a permanent residence in another
state. Adding an additional wrinkle is that an estranged nonmilitary spouse or
ex-spouse could reside in yet another third state. Depending on the state, the
nonmilitary spouse could lose out on the retirement benefits if certain forms
are not filled out correctly.
The length of the marriage is another
factor that can contribute to the difficulty of dividing up the military
retirement pension. When the marriage overlaps the military spouse’s service
period by 10 or more years, the nonmilitary spouse receives benefit payments
directly from the government. If the marriage lasted fewer than 10 years of the
service period, then the government will not enforce a court order from the
nonmilitary spouse for a share of the retirement pension. In that case, if the
military spouse does not agree to provide a share of the retirement benefits
directly to the nonmilitary spouse, then the matter will have to be settled in
a divorce court in the appropriate state.
Military retirement pensions are also
governed by a complex system of both state and federal rules. Therefore, even
when a nonmilitary spouse gets court-awarded retirement benefits after filing
for divorce in the appropriate state, state and federal rules can still make
collecting those benefits a challenge.
If you find yourself facing the prospect
of divorce, contact an experienced Ohio family law attorney who can help guide you through the
difficult process. Count on the expertise of Twinsburg family law attorney Carol
L. Gasper.
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