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Military Divorce

Military service presents unique aspects for service members and their spouses when facing divorce.  While all divorces are challenging, military service presents additional issues and complex regulations that must be navigated during the process to ensure an equitable division of the marital estate, fair awards of support, and protection for children of military families.

Our legal team has experience in handling the complex nature of military divorces, including:

  • Jurisdictional issues: Determination of the proper venue for the divorce proceedings, given the unique residency issues for military families.
  • Servicemembers Civil Service Relief Act: A federal law that provides protections for active service members during litigation.
  • Valuation and division of military retirement benefits: Identification and valuation of military retirement benefits, including implications of disability retired pay.
  • Child custody and parenting time: Address and resolve unique issues of custody and parenting time for military families, including current or future relocations and removal actions.
  • Deployment and Custody: The Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act addresses unique child custody issues presented when a parent is temporarily deployed. The Act seeks to ensure parents who serve their country are not penalized for their service, while protecting the best interests of the children and rights of the other parent.  To learn more about the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act, read the article written by attorney Angela Dunne here.
  • Child Support: Proper analysis of Leave and Earning Statements and recommendations regarding child support calculations, including proper tax treatment of military allowances.
  • Alimony: Given the unique structure of military families, alimony or spousal support for the military spouse is often an issue to be addressed in a military divorce.
  • Health care benefits: Analysis of requirements to maintain Tricare coverage or other available health care coverage options, including the Continued Health Care Benefit Program.
  • Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) benefits: Recommendations regarding eligibility of the benefit, recommendations regarding payment for the benefit, and experience working with the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) and the Office of Personnel Management to ensure proper execution of the SBP benefits elected.
  • Commissary privileges: Analysis of the 20/20/20 rule to provide recommendations regarding certain post-divorce benefits, including commissary privileges.

At Koenig│Dunne, our legal team has extensive experience in military divorce and custody cases.  Contact our office to schedule a consultation to help you navigate the unique aspects of a military divorce to protect your children and financial future.