Agreed Divorce

 A "gray area" military retiree is a member of the Reserves or National Guard who has been place in the "retired, awaiting pay" status.  Gray area retirees in "retired, awaiting pay" status do not drill, so they accrue no additional points creditable toward retirement.  They do, however, continue to accrue longevity pay increases from the date placed in "retired, awaiting pay" status to the date payment of retired pay commences, which usually is at age 60^1,2. 

For example, a Reserve or National Guard servicemember who retired as an "E-7 over 24" years service for pay longevity purposes, and has 14 years before they turn age 60, will end up at commencement of retired pay as an "E-7 over 38" years of service.  This has a significant impact on that servicemember's calculation of high-36 months base pay.

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The Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA) grants State Court the authority to treat only "disposable retired pay" as marital property in divorce.  Many Servicemembers equate "disposable retired pay" with their "net pay."  That is incorrect.  "Disposable retired pay" is determined before retired pay is taxed.  The USFSPA lists the deductions that qualify from gross retired pay in the calculation of "disposable retired pay," which include the following:

            a.

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An Inventory and Appraisement (I&A) is required by Courts in any final hearing that involves division of marital property and confirmation of separate property at divorce.  An I&A conveys three important elements of information about each asset or debt, as follows:

1. It IDENTIFIES the assets and debts (e.g.
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 I recently helped a relative report the death of her husband, a military retiree, since she'd attempted to call DFAS but was getting nowhere.  I quickly discovered she was calling the wrong phone number, as DFAS has several "customer service" numbers depending on the subject.

While it is possible to report the death of a military retiree online, I prefer the "human touch" since it permits the widow or widower to ask and get answered important questions since this is a process most people will only go through once, God willing.

The number to call to report the death of a military retiree is (800) 321-1080.  The representative was extremely courteous and took time to explain the process and answer the widow's questions.

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In military divorce, a former spouse who gets a fixed dollar award (e.g., "former spouse is awarded $1,000.
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Is it possible to get divorced while one or both spouses are in the midst of a bankruptcy proceeding?  Yes, but there are limitations.

Those familiar with bankruptcy law, which is detailed in Title 11 of the United States Code, know that upon the filing of the bankruptcy application, an "automatic stay" goes into effect.¹  In short, the party applying and creditors are prohibited from taking any action that affects the filer's bankruptcy estate since doing so would prejudice the bankruptcy trustee's right to manage the bankruptcy estate.  See id.

There are some exceptions to that apply to divorce.²

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Texas ranks first with 9.95% or 215,818 of the nation's 2.168 million military retirees living in the Lone Star State.  The top five States with the largest military retiree populations are as follows:

1. Texas: 215,818
2. Florida: 202,840
3. Virginia: 157,821
4. California: 154,736
5. Georgia: 99,645

Closer to home, approximately 18% or 38,997 of Texas' military retirees live in the San Antonio region as measured by those living within the "782" zip code.  If the "781" zip code is added, which includes military retirees in Comal, Guadalupe and Wilson Counties (among other counties in "781"), the greater San Antonio region then accounts for 26.

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I recently gave a presentation on the military's new Blended Retirement System (BRS) at the Family Law Bar Association - San Antonio.  The paper I wrote is on our website under the "Forms" tab.

A lump sum option may be selected by a Servicemember within 90 days of retirement. The first lump sum option is a 25% lump sum with 75% of regular monthly retired pay.  The second is a 50% lump sum with 50% of regular monthly retired pay.  The lump sum / reduced retired pay extends from retirement until the Servicemember's full Social Security retirement age, which for most is 67 years of age.  At full Social Security retirement age, military retired pay returns to its full amount. 

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Yes, it can.  The requestor or movant must file a Motion to Modify Post-Divorce Spousal Maintenance in the Court that made the initial order.  Procedures for filing an original suit apply, which means the former spouse receiving maintenance must be served with citation.  At an evidentiary hearing, the movant bears the burden of proving that a material and substantial change has occurred such that the movant no longer can longer afford to pay the Court-ordered amount.  In proving that a material and substantial change has occurred, the movant must prove the facts and circumstances that existed at time of the original order and the facts and circumstances that exist now.
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Some servicemembers left the service by taking Voluntary Separation Incentive (VSI) pay or Special Separation Bonus (SSB) pay and later returned to military duty and qualified for either an active duty or reserve component retirement.  So, what happens to the VSI or SSB payments the servicemember received?

DFAS will recoup the amount of VSI or SSB it paid.  Generally, recoupment starts about 3 months after the now retired member begins to receive retired pay.  The recoupment rate is 40 percent of the retired member's retired pay per month until the full recoupment has been satisfied.  Retired members may apply for a hardship reduction in the amount recouped.

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Yes, when DFAS tells a former spouse that a clarification order is necessary to receive former spouse retired pay, the ex-spouse/Servicemember "must" be served with notice of the clarification proceeding.  The former spouse cannot simply claim the Court has jurisdiction over the Servicemember because of a prior proceeding (e.g. the divorce decree).  In fact, the clarification proceeding requires that jurisdiction over the Servicemember be established (one might say, "re-established") through one of the three methods specified in the Uniform Services Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA), which are as follows:

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