Military, Divorce and Retirement?
I am a former military spouse. I married him 2 months before he went into service. We were married exactly 18 yrs 1 month and 1 day. The divorce was in January of 2003. I had no money to pay for a lawyer, he cheated on me with his former High School sweatheart and wanted to be rid of me so he could marry her. The lawyer he hired tried to talk fast thru the retirement portion , but I catch on quick and told him, I was entititled to 1/2 of my husbands pension. I did not sign anything until this was amended. Now the problem is. My Ex retired July 1st 2006, I knew it was coming so back in January I filed all the nessesary paperwork with DFAS. They denied me! Because the Divorce decree reads Quote" The respondent is entitled to half of the martial portion of the Petitioners pension." They say this is not good enough, it has to say a certain percentage like 50%. Apparently DFAS does not understand HALF! Sent ex a DFAS affidavit, that would clarify this for them. He refuses to sign! Help!
Public Comments
- heres the way i see it, you married him and also wanted the divorce now you are only looking to hurt him because he hurt you by cheating on you. gt over it, get a job, dont think you desever it just because you gave him 18 years of your life, that doesnt mean anything, you had to have loved him for most of the marriage otherwise you wouldnt have married him. stop the hatred and get on with your life, the only reason why you would want to pursue this is because you are a money hungry witch, or you are jealous of him. move on and get a real life by focussing on yourself and doing somthing for you.you have been away from him for three years why get involved with him just for the money?
- DFAS does not answer to any court. They have a certain procedure and it works of a percentage and here is why. If you left him at one rank and he attained a higher rank after the divorce you are only entitled to the precentage in your case half or 50% of his retirement based on the rank he held at your date of divorce. Once you stop supporting his effort to earn retirement you also stopped getting the benefit. The reason I know this is I am a soldier and currently going thru a divorce. In my case I was in for 10 years prior to my marriage and am still in. Civillian judges thankfully do not understand that DFAS will laugh at their order if it is not filled correctly using DFAS rules and standards. The origional court cannot ammend the decree without your husbands signature and thats why you should have had a lawyer.
