If you have reviewed follow our military divorce sections of our website and blog, you should be familiar with the basics of the division of military retired pay pursuant to a divorce in Virginia. In short:

Your disposable retired pay, meaning your gross military retired pay minus any deductions for disability, is divisible under both federal and state law.
Under Virginia law, your spouse can receive up to fifty percent of the “marital share” of your retired pay, the marital share being defined as the portion that was earned during the marriage before separation.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (“DFAS”) can pay your spouse his or her portion of your military retired pay directly where your marriage overlapped with 10 years or more of your military service.

What we have not discussed in detail is how you can structure your military retired pay … Read More »

The Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act (USFSPA) recognizes the ability of state courts to distribute a portion of a servicemember’s military retirement to a former spouse. Notably, USFSPA specifies that the maximum amount that can be paid to a former spouse is fifty percent of a servicemember’s “disposable retired pay,” which does not include retired pay that he or she waives in order to receive VA disability pay. In Mansell v. Mansell, 490 U.S. 581 (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed this rule and held that state courts may not divide upon divorce the military retired pay that a servicemember waives in order to receive disability pay.

The exclusion of retired pay waived for disability pay from division by state courts created perceptions of inequity in divorce cases, particularly where a servicemember had a high VA disability rating and could waive … Read More »

Beginning in 2014, retired servicemembers eligible for Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) will no longer have to waive any portion of their military retirement in order to receive VA disability compensation. The CRDP program, enacted in 2004, allowed military retirees with a VA disability rating of 50% of higher to receive both military retired pay and VA disability compensation at the same time. This has been commonly referred to as the “concurrent receipt” of disability pay and retired pay.

Before creation of the CRDP, military retirees were forbidden by law to receive both military retirement benefits and VA disability compensation. Parties seeking disability benefits were required to waive an equivalent portion of their military retired pay.

The CRDP program was structured to phase in the disability payments over a ten-year period. In 2013, eligible retirees will receive 99.96% of their disability pay … Read More »

If you have a child and are contemplating a divorce or separation from your spouse or partner, it is essential that you educate yourself as to your rights and obligations under the law. For servicemembers, the choice of counsel can be difficult, as many attorneys handle military divorce cases very infrequently, if at all. In Part One of this series on military divorce, we addressed the grounds for divorce in Virginia, the benefits of separation agreements, how Virginia’s Courts equitably distribute marital property and debts, and spousal support. In Part Two, we address the issues surrounding child custody, visitation, and support as they apply to servicemembers in Virginia. This post will describe just a few of the essential facts and issues you should be aware of before embarking on such a case in Virginia.

I. Jurisdiction. When you first meet with your … Read More »

In any separation, divorce or custody dispute, a party might seek financial support. It may be a request for spousal support to get back on their feet. It may be a request for child support. Whatever the type of family support sought, there are two basic strategies for resolving the dispute: negotiating an agreement or litigating a case through the courts. If one party is a military servicemember, however, there may be alternate methods available to settle these issues.

Each service branch has regulations requiring servicemembers to support their families in the event of a separation. The service branch involved can have a great deal of impact when deciding to pursue support through the servicemember’s command. Some branches, like the Army, issue very specific regulations, spelling out the exact dollar amount they will provide, the length of time it will be … Read More »