3 Questions About Divorce When A Spouse Is Actively Serving In The Military
Are you wanting to get a divorce while your spouse is involved in the military and actively serving? If so, know that things will be a bit complicated with this legal situation. Here are 3 things to be aware of as you get into this complicated legal situation.
Does Their Deployment Status Matter?
One thing to be aware of is the status of their deployment when requesting a divorce. While being on active duty does not prevent you from filing the paperwork, getting temporary orders, and starting discovery, deployment status does matter. You will not be able to move forward with a divorce as long as your spouse is on active deployment and if they decide to invoke the service members civil relief act. However, if your spouse is willing to move forward with the divorce, they may not invoke that act in order to get the legal process going while they are on deployment.
What Happens With Military Benefits?
There are a few benefits that you may still be entitled to after a divorce. For example, you may be entitled to health insurance benefits, which depends on how many active years your spouse served in the military.
Meanwhile, retirement benefits can be a complicated matter. You would still be entitled to a percentage of your spouse's retirement benefits, but only if they qualify for them with the required years of service. Percentages of retirement benefits that you may receive are based on how many years you were married to your spouse while they were on active service, rather than the length of time you were married to your spouse in general. You'll want to work with a lawyer that understands how these laws are different from traditional divorce laws so that you can receive what you're entitled to.
Will Child Custody Be Handled Differently?
Child custody is another situation where things can become very tricky during a divorce. With active service members moving around the country and then being deployed, it creates a situation where special considerations must be made for custody. Be aware that it is not a guarantee that you will receive child custody just because your spouse moves around the country since the court will still do what is deemed best for the child. There may be special considerations made in your custody arrangement for things such as what happens with your child while a spouse is deployed.
Contact a divorce attorney for more information.