{"id":353867,"date":"2017-01-12T12:51:17","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T17:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/military\/family-employment-housing\/military-divorce-and-retirement-pay.html"},"modified":"2017-01-17T17:47:30","modified_gmt":"2017-01-17T22:47:30","slug":"military-divorce-and-retirement-pay","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/military\/family-employment-housing\/military-divorce-and-retirement-pay.html","title":{"rendered":"Military Divorce and Retirement Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Military Divorce and Retirement Pay<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

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Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

Retirement pay can be claimed by a spouse seeking a military divorce where they can show that the couple was married at least 10 years and that, during that 10 year period, the servicemember accrued a total of 10 years of creditable military service during the marriage. This is frequently referred to as the 10\/10 requirement.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Military divorces are substantially similar to civilian divorces, but one contentious item in military divorces involves whether a former spouse is capable of claiming a portion of the servicemember’s retirement pay. The following article examines military divorce<\/a> and retirement pay to clarify how the laws and courts treat pensions and other benefits differently when one or both of the spouses are in the military.<\/p>\r\n

What is at Stake?<\/h2>\r\n

Military retirement benefits are an important asset. Military servicemembers can accrue a significant amount of retirement benefits more quickly than is often possible in the civilian context. Furthermore, military pensions are administrated through the Defense Finance and Accounting Service<\/a> (DFAS.)<\/p>\r\n

While a court order dividing pension benefits<\/a> is nearly always enough to satisfy a private pension provider, the DFAS will only distribute pension benefits to a former spouse where they meet the requirements of the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act<\/a> (USFSPA.)<\/p>\r\n

The Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act<\/h2>\r\n

The USFSPA is a federal statute that requires military organizations to accept and enforce state orders relating to child support, spousal support, and military retirement pay. In addition to entitling former spouses to direct payment of military retirement funds from DFAS, the statute also provides the eligibility criteria to claim military divorce retirement pay as a marital asset or community property<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

The criteria for these benefits must be established as part of the marriage settlement agreement<\/a>. If the requirements of the USFSPA are met, the spouse may claim up to 50 percent of the servicemember’s military retirement pay.<\/p>\r\n

Also, the state court issuing an order dividing military retirement pay must have jurisdiction<\/a> over the servicemember on account of either:<\/p>\r\n