Being a military spouse is tough: constant moving, frequent separations while your partner is deployed overseas, and numerous other aspects of military life can strain your relationship. The divorce process for military spouses comes with its own set of complications and potential headaches, which is why it’s crucial that you find an experienced divorce lawyer. You likely have shared financial accounts and need to understand how to split stocks in a divorce. Today we’ll examine divorce and military pensions.
Military Pension Vs Military Benefits
Retired military spousal benefits are benefits the spouse has access to as the partner of a retired military member. These include, but are not limited to: military healthcare coverage, military dental care, access to shopping on military bases, and education benefits.
Pensions, on the other hand, are monthly payments service members receive after they retire from the military, typically after completing a minimum of 20 years of service. Today’s article will discuss pensions, not benefits. It is important that you read up on retired military spousal benefits and divorce as well.
Divorce And Property Rights In The State Of Virginia
The State of Virginia recognizes two types of property in divorce proceedings: separate property and marital property.
Assets already owned by a spouse prior to entering the marriage are considered separate property. For example, say the husband bought a car before getting married. After divorce, that car is still 100% his property.
Assets acquired during the marriage are marital property. For example, a home that was purchased during the marriage, in either spouse’s name or both, is considered marital property and both spouses can make a claim to it in a divorce.
Military Pensions and Divorce
A military pension can be considered separate property, marital property, or both, depending on when the spouse served in the military and when they entered the marriage. Let’s take a look at some examples for clarification.
Let’s imagine a retired service member named Dave. Dave served in the military for 20 years, and now receives a military pension of $2,000 per month. Dave and his spouse are getting divorced.
For our first example, say Dave got married after retirement. In this case, the entire military pension is considered his separate property, as he completed his service before entering the marriage. His spouse is not entitled to any of the pension.
However, say Dave got married before enlisting, and was married for his entire 20 years of service. In this case, his entire military pension is considered marital property to be split 50/50 upon divorce. His spouse is entitled to up to 50% of the pension, or $1000 per month.
It gets a bit more complicated if Dave got married during his service. In that case, the portion of the pension earned before the marriage is Dave’s separate property, while the portion earned during the marriage is marital property.
Thus, say Dave served 10 years while single, 10 years while married: half the pension ($1000 monthly) would be considered marital property, and his spouse entitled to up to 50% of that, or $500 per month. If Dave served 15 years while single and only 5 while married, then just a quarter of the pension ($500 monthly) would be considered marital property, and his spouse entitled to up to 50% of that, or $250 a month.
Conclusion
The above scenarios are examples only, and if you are considering divorce it is important that you seek the counsel of a qualified divorce lawyer. Divorce can be difficult for everyone involved, and even more so in military marriages. Hiring an understanding divorce lawyer helps make the process as smooth and painless as possible.
