San Antonio Military Divorce Attorney

When it comes to military divorces, additional laws and considerations come into the picture. One major federal law that affects a military divorce is the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act (USFSPA). This law lets state courts divide the benefits of military retirement as marital property in a divorce. It also has guidelines for determining the amount of retirement pay that the non-military spouse can receive. There are also unique challenges regarding child custody and visitation in military divorces.

In the state of Texas, you need to be a resident of the state for 180 days and a resident of the county you are filing in for a minimum of 90 days to be eligible to file for military divorce proceedings. Once the residency requirements are met, one spouse can begin the process of filing a petition. After filing the petition, the other spouse must be served with the process.

In Texas, child custody arrangements are made in terms of “conservatorship,” with one parent named the sole managing conservator who gets the sole custody, or the parents named as joint managing conservators where they have shared custody. In the case of joint custody, the court must award one parent the exclusive right to determine the child’s primary residence; however, the parties are free to enter an agreement where neither party is designated primary–so long as a geographic restriction is in place. The Texas Family Code presumes that the child’s best interest lies in appointing parents as joint managing conservators.

In the matter of military ID cards, the entitlement to retain the card after a military divorce can vary depending on several factors:

• If you meet the 20/20/20 rule requirements, you can retain the military card
• If you do not meet the 20/20/20 rule requirements but meet the requirements of the 20/20/15 rule, you can retain the military ID card privileges temporarily.
• You may get a former spouse ID card if you do not meet the 20/20/20 and 20/20/15 rules.

According to the 20/20/20 rule, you must have been married to a military personnel for at least 20 years. Also, the service member must have served for at least 20 years. Lastly, there must be an overlap of marriage and the service period for a minimum of 20 years. If you meet these requirements, you may get to keep your military ID card and retain several benefits, such as healthcare and commissary privileges.

The Texas law states that you can get a final decree no earlier than 60 days after you file the petition. In reality, however, the military divorce proceedings may take anywhere between 5 months to a whole year, depending on the specific circumstances and your spouse’s willingness to compromise. When both parties have come to a full agreement, a divorce order may be entered once the 60-day period is passed. In such cases, the divorce proceedings can conclude within as little as two months.

Spouses need to navigate special laws that affect their divorce, which includes how their military pensions are divided. In Texas, military retirement benefits are considered marital property. So, if your divorce decree or settlement did not address the pension, the ex-wife may have a claim in your military pension, even years after the divorce.

If you want to enjoy special military privileges after divorcing your serving spouse, you need to meet certain criteria. According to the 20/20/20 rule, you need to be married for 20 years or more, while your serving spouse should be in military service for 20 years or more, and there needs to be a 20-year overlap between marriage and military service. When you meet these requirements, you can get full access to the perks. There is also a 20/20/15 rule, where the marriage and service overlap can be 15 years. Finally, for a former spouse to be paid directly from DFAS, the parties must meet the 10/10/20 rule, which is married for 10 years while the service member performs at least 10 years active duty/credible service, and the service member completes 20 years of service to reach retirement.