Compassionate Guidance During A Military Divorce
If you or your spouse is an active-duty service member, filing for divorce may be more complicated than you planned. You will have unique challenges and special laws that apply to your situation. You will need a lawyer with experience in military divorce to guide you through the process and help you understand the choices you will need to make along the way.
At Robert L. Isaacs & Associates, our attorneys have worked with many military families from the Richmond, Yorktown and Newport News areas. We have helped them through divorce and other family law matters. We bring our knowledge and compassion to each case.
What Makes Military Divorce Different?
Service members and their families face struggles that most civilians do not need to worry about. Issues regarding children and custody arrangements can become complicated. They also face a few special circumstances in divorce that make it slightly different from a military divorce. These include:
- When you can file – A military spouse cannot file for divorce while the service member is on deployment.
- Tricare benefits – Your Tricare benefits affect your housing and health insurance. Divorce can impact whether different family members can still receive those benefits.
- Housing – If your family lives on the military base, a non-military spouse may need to relocate. They may be more likely to receive spousal support for this reason.
- Federal divorce court – The federal courts can take on jurisdiction issues in a military divorce and both federal and state divorce laws may apply.
If you need help figuring out how these rules will apply to your family, we can walk you through it. We want to put you in a position to make positive decisions for you and your family’s future.
What You Should Know About Dividing A Military Pension
Dividing assets during a divorce can be tricky in the best of circumstances. Courts often include retirement accounts and pensions in the marital assets subject to division. Federal laws apply to how and when the court can divide a military pension. Jurisdictional issues for dividing the pension can become tricky for the court if the spouses live in two different states when one files for divorce. The parties do not need to be married for a certain number of years in order to divide the pension under federal law but can affect direct payments to a military spouse.
Learn More From Our Attorneys
Our team is ready to help you through this difficult time. Learn more about what you can expect from this process by scheduling an appointment with one of our experienced lawyers. You can call our office in Henrico County at 804-728-0228 or send us an online message.