Compare State Military Divorce Rules
The Premeditated Military Divorce Plan
Would you like a book that lists the USFSPA application rules of every state and how they differ? Would you like to compare state military divorce laws?
Books like Military Divorce Tips provide the federal provisions of the USFSPA and usually touch on the fact that each state is left to divide military retired pay as they deem fit so one must check with local lawyers for state rules.
Is there a need for a book comparing the USFSPA across states so one can determine the best state for a military divorce?
If you know the rules of every state, you might try to relocate to the best state and attempt to meet the jurisdiction rules required for division of retired pay. Military service members could attempt to receive orders to relocate, or former spouses could “walk-out” and attempt to establish residency in a more favorable state.
I would describe this as the premeditated divorce plan.
Of course, it follows that the best state for the service member will be the worst state for the military spouse and vise versa.
UPDATE (October 2012): see also Military Divorce State Laws
Share More about Military Divorce in Your State
You can submit more information about Military Divorce unique to your state by completing our submission form beneath the clickable map on the State Military Divorce Laws page.
Click here to submit state information
As you learn the financial impact of a military divorce, you might consider recommitting to saving your marriage:
To Clarify – The Former Military Spouse blog is NOT a group “dedicated to stamping out the existence of permanent welfare coverage for ex-spouses at the retirees expense.”
This blog does watch for proposals to change state military divorce laws and encourages participants to ask questions. The original question should be of interest to both service members and military spouses: “Has there been any change to receiving benefits after divorce?”
Military spouses who miss the 20/20/20 rule should check if they can qualify for lifetime CHCBP. (CHCBP is covered in the book, Military Divorce Tips .)
There are initiatives to try and change the military divorce medical rules:
REMINDER: We strive to keep an “immediate posting” of blog comments and reserve the right to edit or moderate. Please see our Comment Policy.
Michelle,
Hate to rain on your parade (NOT!) but you are not entitled to military/Tricare coverage at the 18 year point – you’re 2 years shy of the requirement. You came to the wrong group for sympathy – we are a group dedicated to stamping out the existance of permanent welfare coverage for ex-spouses at the retirees expense….
For simplicity (and due a conversation evolving into personal derogatory comments), we’ve removed a series of discussion posts from this page (to which Mr. McKown was responding to).
Discussions on this page should stay on the topic of comparing military divorce laws across states.
Here is some information from the discussion that may be helpful:
The original question asked was: “Has there been any change to receiving benefits after divorce. We were married 17.5 years just 1 year shy of receiving benefits for life.”
– This question was focused on medical benefits.
Links shared:
Navy USFSPA Tips
USFSPA Petition
No one commented on any new medical proposals or other changes/differences when you compare state military divorce laws.
A much better and less emotional reference guide is “Divorce And The Military”, published by the American Retirees Association (ARA). This calm, truthful source can be ordered through the ARA website – http://www.americanretirees.org -if not available at your local military exchange. It prefers to advise the various state cases dealing with military divorce actions.
Here’s a direct link for “Divorce and the Military II” from Amazon (where they have some used copies, so you might save a few dollars)