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Military Divorce

If you are part of a military family, your divorce can be even more complicated than a civilian divorce already is. You’ll need to figure out where to file for divorce – you might be eligible in multiple states, and your lawyer can help you figure that out. You might also have additional complexities based on military benefits and deployments. Your lawyer can help you figure all of that out.

Child Custody and Alimony

If the non-military spouse has been following the deployed spouse for the length of their marriage, they have probably been either unemployed or underemployed for that entire time. That means that they’ve been earning less than they could have because they’ve been prioritizing their spouse and family. Because of that, the military spouse might owe them spousal support for years to come.

Child custody can also be impacted significantly, since deployments limit visitation. That means that the non-military spouse usually gets primary custody, as well as increased child support, since the military spouse can’t be as physically available.

Military Benefits

There are a number of benefits that military personnel and their spouses are entitled to, and former spouses are still eligible for some of these after a divorce. For example, after working for the military for twenty years, retirees are eligible for a generous pension. If the marriage lasted at least ten years, the former spouse is eligible for half of that pension. Of course, the exact amount can vary depending on length of marriage and circumstances of the divorce – that’s why you need an excellent military divorce lawyer from Merchant Law Firm to help you. You’ll also want someone to make sure that you write any expectations into the decree, such as that the military spouse will work the full 20 years.

The Survivor Benefit Plan is paid out to the spouse if the military spouse is killed in the line of duty. When you divorce, you can negotiate for the former spouse and children to remain the beneficiary of this plan even after the divorce. You can also retain access to the commissary (if you were married for at least 20 years) and Tricare eligibility (for 12 months after the divorce).

Going through a military divorce involves extra challenges on top of a typical divorce. You need to navigate the confusing bureaucracy of the military while navigating the legal bureaucracy of divorce at the same time. There is a lot to understand, and whether you are the military spouse or the nonmilitary spouse, you need to make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row in order to get great results from your divorce.

That’s why you want a great lawyer from Merchant Law Firm to be on your team. We understand the extra complexities that come from navigating a military divorce, and we can help you get through it with minimal challenge. Whether you’re the military spouse or the nonmilitary spouse, you can be certain that you’ll get the best deal possible when you work with us. Give us a call today to start the process.