Military Divorce Retirement Pension Rules Change
divorce pension rules wallpaperUntil the 2017 rule changes the USFSPA allowed state courts to split retired pay 5050 based on the value of that military pension at the time of retirement. Military Divorce Retirement Pension Rules Change 1 Dec 2016 A change included in a new law governing the Defense Department alters military divorce retirement rules making things more fair for.
Calculation Of Military Retirement Pay Shares Military Divorce Guide
The pension plan pays monthly checks for the rest of a servicemembers life after retirement and the TSP account functions similar to a 401K Plan.
Military divorce retirement pension rules change. In 2017 National Defense Authorization Act NDAA made a radical change to the way states divide the military pensions of divorcing spouses. The Frozen Benefit Rule is the 2016 amendment to the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act which re- quires every state court order in which a military retirement is being divided as property to freeze the retired pay base and years of service on the date of the decree of divorce dissolution annul- ment or legal separation. The ex-spouse must have been married to the military member for a period of at least 10 years with at least 10 years of the marriage overlapping a period of military service creditable to retired pay.
Supreme Court decision and the militarys move to a blended retirement system in lieu of the old 20 years or nothing defined benefit annuity require significant changes in the way that family law attorneys advise clients and draft divorce settlement agreements. It requires that retired pay be established or frozen based on the members rank and years of service at the time the court order dividing military retired pay typically the final divorce decree is entered. Effect of divorce on military benefits You may retain your identification card and continue to receive your commissary exchange and health care benefits until your divorce is final regardless of whether you meet the 202020 rule.
A service member may be eligible for disability pay but may not be eligible for a pension. New federal legislation a US. The original USFSPA did not provide for any particular division of a servicemembers military retired pay.
The new NDAA made major changes to the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act USFSPA which is the federal law enacted in 1982 that allowed states to divide military retired pay as marital property in divorce. Service Member was injured while service and only served 4 years-the. In the year 2017 the National Defense Authorization Act underwent a revision concerning the way in which pension of military personnel is divided in the case of a divorce between the spouses.
Under the old rule the divorce court could award your spouse 50 of your pension and base the dollar amount your spouse will receive not on your current rank but on the rank you will be at retirement. In short the former spouses share of a military retirement is frozen as of the date of dissolution. In order for a state divorce court to divide a military pension jurisdictional requirements must first be met.
Retirement accounts are treated as marital or community assets in divorce and must be divided in an appropriate way as part of the settlement process. It allows the state courts handling a service members divorce to treat the military pension as divisible property. Under the 202015 rule the former spouse does not have access to the military exchange installation privileges or commissary privileges.
The new rules instituted the frozen benefit rule. While previously it was thought to be the decision of the State under the USFSPA enacted in 1982 now Congress has come up with a single one-size-fits-all method that will be applicable to all military personnel. In terms of retirement plans military members are able to participate in both a pension plan defined benefit plan and a TSP plan defined contribution plan.
Now the federal government has not only imposed significant restrictions it has also changed the military pension division rules of 45 states. The rewrite requires that the military retired pay to be divided will be that attributable to the rank and years of service of the military member at the time of the parties divorce. Before the NDAA states had the discretion of dividing pensions of divorcing military personnel as they saw fit.
They stated that the change would alter state divorce law in the majority of states by requiring the states to divide military retirements as opposed to every other kind of defined benefit pension plan in accordance with rank and grade at the moment of divorce rather than in accordance with the Time Rule basing the division on rank and years of service at retirement. On the surface this sounds simple enough but there are several rules laws and procedures that must be followed so that the division is done properly. Under the 2017 Rule dividing a military pension in a divorce is based on the rank and members time in the service at the time of the divorce in addition to a Cost of Living Adjustment.
The new military pension division rule is a rewrite of the terms for military pension division found in the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act or USFSPA 10 USC. The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act NDAA enacted on December 23 2016 contains a major change in how states are permitted to divide military retirement. It is no longer based on the total time in service.
You must be serving in the armed forces to be eligible to transfer in and once you have committed yourself to a transfer from your previous pension scheme you cannot change your mind and you will.