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U.S. military members are entitled to a pension when they retire. If a military member gets divorced long before he reaches retirement age, the divorce court must consider the pension he is likely to get years later and how to divide it. Most states consider military pensions to be assets subject to division just like other marital property.

Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act

The Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act, or USFSPA, is the law governing the division of military pensions following a divorce. This law gives states the power to divide military pensions between spouses in the event of divorce. Only a divorce court in the state the spouses reside in may have the power to make this type of decision, unless the spouses consent to the division. For example, if a service member lives in New York but is stationed in Colorado, he has to give consent for a Colorado divorce court to divide his military pension. Otherwise, this part of the divorce would have to be handled through a New York court. However, consent doesn't have to be explicit or in writing. If the service member participates in divorce proceedings in Colorado, the court will often presume consent to handling the division of pension in that state.

10-year Rule

The USFSPA covers all military spouses, regardless of the length of the marriage. The marriage doesn't have to last for 10 years for divorce courts to divide the pension plan. However, if the marriage lasted 10 years or more, and one or both spouses served in the military for at least 10 years of the marriage, the U.S. Defense Financing and Accounting Service pays the ex-spouse her portion of the pension. Otherwise, the spouse who receives the pension must pay his former spouse her share when ordered to do so by the court.

Timetable of Payments

The divorce court can determine when a former spouse is entitled to pension payments. In some cases, the court may order that the ex-spouse receive her expected payment immediately in one lump sum. In other cases, the court may require that the ex-spouse begin receiving payments upon her former spouse's retirement.

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