Former spouses and military retirement pay.......?

Opinions please...What do you think of this BS law and why? *My opinion: This law is the biggest bunch of bulls**t I've ever heard of! I don't care what a soldier or marine or whatever has done, nothing justifies taking half of their retirement pay! WE are the ones that fought the wars. WE are the ones that go to the field problems. WE are the ones that work endless hours. WE are the ones that have to put up with all the BS that comes with being in the military. WE are the ones that have to abide by not ONE, but TWO justice systems. WE are the ones getting put through all this, and no matter what happens between a husband and wife, I think someone's hard-earned retirement should have NOTHING to do with it!!!! When a civilian wife gets beat by her civilian husband or when a civilian wife leaves her civilian husband for his best friend, they're not entitled to half of their social security, so why should the military be any different? I'm active duty army and so is my husband. We're both currently deployed to Iraq. If he were to do something to make me divorce him like hit me or cheat on me, I still would not try to take his retirement, because no matter what he would've done to our marriage, that has nothing to do with his loyal and fine service to this country. Desert Storm, and twice to OIF. I think the man deserves all that hes bled for, he's cried for, he's lost friends for, and worked so hard for. I wouldn't dare touch that, it has nothing to do with our marriage. Same goes the other way around, too. For the record, all these emotions spouses feel when we're gone, we feel them too, with one major difference. We feel them in a warzone. We can't jump in the car and drive to moms house for comfort, we can't lay in bed all day hugging our pillow wishing our loved one was with us, we can't mope around. We have a job to do, and we learn to put all those emotions aside, we're not robots it's just something you learn. Military spouses are given every opportunity to go to college. There's the education center, you can use your spouses G.I. bill.......and what about all the benefits you got FOR FREE simply because you were married to him??? Does that not count for anything? Or what about when the civilian husband who always beats his wife all of a sudden leaves his wife who's in the mlitary to raise the kids by herself, and the civilian husband gets half of her retirement pay? Is that fair?

Public Comments

1. ahhh....it's time for you to separate emotions.....from legality..../...half is half is half is hal.......it has everything to do with nothing....you married him/her....and now it's time to split it all down the middle....war or no war...it is what it is.....military is no different when it comes to divorce as civilian....
2. I see your point (I'm not military, so I'm speaking for others who have been there...) but the spouses who were left behind went through a lot during those absences too. they raised children by themselves, they spent lonely nights laying in bed wishing only to hold the one they love, they poured everything they had into making a marriage work with a spouse who was out serving our country. they explained to the kids that daddy/mommy is far away, we can't talk to him/her right now. we can only hope and pray for her safe return. there were bedtimes where the kids cried or screamed in their sleep for the parent gone, therapy sessions dealing with the absence and fear of losing a spouse. they built a home and family around a spouse who could be gone as quick as he/she came home. this is very hard. and if a couple can stick together through all of that, then yes, everything he/she worked so hard for should be split, just as marital assets would be. and for the record, it doesn't matter why a couple splits, if they have been married for ten years or more, the ex can claim on the spouse's Social Security benefits once the ex reaches 59 1/2 years.
3. My husbands Active Duty AF and I wouldn't dare touch that money. He worked for it, not me. I am there for him, take care of our home, and family while he's gone, but that's what I should do because I'm his wife. I would do that if he was a civilian and wouldn't come after him for money because I was married to him. Some spouse have a sense of entitlement, they need to get rid of it. Things happen sometimes marriages don't work out. Get a job instead of taking money that someone else has worked hard for.
4. Okay if this is a true story then thank you for what you are doing. However I was marreid to a man in the army. I had no life because on a military town there are no jobs (last post was Fort Bragg, NC) even for those with college. I couldn't get a great job, because every time that I did we got orders to move. Twice in Florida, once over seas then to NC. Who is going to hire someone with no good job history? We put up with ALOT on our ends, and when you are gone we get NO help from the base or your unit. SO, if a women marrys a man for LOVE and sticks it out (for what is it...10 years) then I think that we deserve half of that. I was only married 8 and I am fine with what I did receive. I am sorry if you don't agree but I think that you are wrong.
5. The former spouse only gets half of the retirement pay IF the former spouse was married to the military spouse during the ENTIRE time they were in the military meaning if you were in the military for 20 years then your spouse would have had to have been married to you all 20 of those years. As far as getting a portion of your retirement...don't forget the military spouse is the one who stays behind and raises the children, keeps the home when the military person is deployed. As far as civilian reitrement you don't know much do you? Because it is the same as with the military. Ditto with social security. As long as she doesn't marry before her ex files for social secuirty the ex spouse is entitled to half of it...even if HE does remarry...It works the other way as well...so does the retirement thing as well. If a woman works for a company for 20 years and retires and her ex husband was married to her for the entire 20 years HE is entitled to half of HER retirement...so get off your ego pity pot sweets...and quit whining. "Military spouses are given every opportunity to go to college." Not when I was a military spouse. I paid for my education thank you.