Military Divorce (Knol)

This knol examines divorce in the military. It has relevance to both spouses. It explains some of the details regarding divorce where at least one of the partners is or has been a member of their country’s armed services and looks at military divorce in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Now please understand that the ‘one law fits all’ ruling does not apply. Each country has its own set of rules and exceptions to those rules. If you are or have been involved in a military divorce, make sure you are reading the information for your country. Mind you it might be more than one country if your spouse obtains a divorce elsewhere. Some spouses seek a divorce in their homeland which is not the one of their partner.

Let’s start by seeing if there are any similarities in military divorce law in all four countries. Well, yes there are even if only in principle.

• Military divorces are decided in a civil court of law.
• Generally speaking the armed forces will not interfere with the ruling of a civilian court.
• In most cases a military member’s chances of promotion will not be harmed if he or she is divorced.
• Support services for married couples to help them remain married or assist them if a separation and divorce do occur, are well-established and often helpful.
• The length of your marriage may well be important. How much money you receive or lose from a military pension often depends on how long you were married.

So let’s examine some parts of military divorce law in four countries.

United States Military Divorce

The first thing to know is that there are three levels of jurisdiction. There is federal legislation which governs certain things. There is state law where a divorce application will almost certainly be held. And there is military jurisdiction involving such things as the method of paying monies following a divorce ruling.

America’s federal politicians don’t want their armed services personnel distracted  when fighting to defend their country. That’s why there is federal legislation which, amongst other things, makes it difficult if not impossible to serve certain legal documents on a member of the military. In fact a serving member on duty overseas is not required to accept divorce papers and can continue to refuse for up to sixty days upon returning to the United States.

A civilian served with a divorce application must attend the court as directed but a member of the military may have their divorce hearing in a choice of states. And if a civil court rules that a certain amount of the income due to a member of the military is to be paid to the former spouse, then the military is able to pay that spouse directly.

Those are just three situations in which jurisdiction for a military divorce in the United Sates is shared. The amount of information about pensions, ID card benefits and support services for married couples in the military is large – very large. You can study things yourself at the military’s own divorce web page at military.com.

Take a tip. Hire a good lawyer who knows all about military divorce.

Canada Military Divorce

The rules and laws covering a military divorce are many and complex. Take the distribution of a military pension. If the military partner is receiving a pension then part of this income may be awarded to the non-military former spouse. This is the case elsewhere but has caused many to complain. In the United States some retired ex-servicemen feel aggrieved that their pension is going in part to a former spouse who, some argue, does not need that money. The former spouse may have re-married. There is another side to this argument of course but in Canada, there are different ways and means of approaching a military pension.Firstly not just the former spouse or spouses may apply for the matter to be decided but the service member may also apply. And if the court ruling is considered unfair, the member of the military has 90 days to lodge a complaint to the Minister of National Defence. Any amount awarded to a non-military spouse may not exceed 50% of the net income from the pension.The commanding officer of the unit in which a military spouse is serving has the authority to control child support payments which have been ordered by a court. Again there are rules governing such action but a military divorce in Canada, can come under the jurisdiction of federal, provincial and armed services rulings. For more details go to admfincs.forces.gc.ca.United Kingdom Military Divorce

If you think the rules regarding pensions when applied to a military divorce are complex in North America, they are just as involved with members of the UK armed services. One unique aspect to the pension decisions in a UK military divorce is to offer what is known as a pension credit. This is an amount of money a civil court declares is to be paid to the non-military spouse. The court believes such a payment creates a clean break between the now divorced spouses.

If you are contemplating a military divorce, you should obtain as much advice as possible. The MOD (Ministry of Defence) seeks to help where it can. You can learn more on-line by typing the word DIVORCE into the search engine at mod.uk.

Whilst the MOD cannot provide you with specific legal advice regarding your divorce case, they can provide you with general information about your rights, how you might go about applying for orders and information, and direct you to the appropriate forms, etc.

Australia Military Divorce

The army, navy and air force in Australia come under the umbrella of the ADF (Australian Defence Force). As with other countries, a military divorce is decided in civilian courts although in Australia there is choice being the Family Law Court and the Federal Magistrates Court. And the national parliament is responsible for such matters as superannuation. In recent times super has been declared as an item open for negotiation at a divorce. The spouses in any marriage, including a military marriage, may come to an arrangement about a split of the superannuation account or may choose to have a court decide.

More information is available on line from the ADF web site at defence.gov.au.

Use the search engine at the bottom left of the page and type in the word DIVORCE. And as with other armed services around the globe, the ADF attempts to help married couples and their families do well dealing with the challenges of a military marriage. The DCO (Defence Community Organization) offers a number of services and more details can be found on-line at defence.gov.au.