Military Divorce Lawyers

Make or Break Test of a Military divorce lawyer

The prospective client may place faith and confidence in a lawyer to solve a military divorce case, if he or she answers the following queries correctly.

Query no. 1: Which reference book is used on the FSPA?

Answer: “Military Retirement Benefits in Divorce” which is an American Bar Association book. This was published in 1998 and is the singular authoritative book pertaining to this issue.

Query no. 2: What is the concept of DRP? What is its significance?

Answer: DRP means disposable retired pay. The lawyer must show the client a present version of “10 United States Code, Section 1408(a)(4).” Further, the lawyer should explain the following issues –

• Every value that is deducted while calculating DRP
• The importance of DRP in the divorce case
• How the DRP controls what the pay centers would pay
• The advantages of DRP if the client is a military member
• How the limitations of DRP can be faced if the client is a non-member
• Which retirees are offered both VA and retired pay payments
• How the retired pay is waived so that the retiree may get VA disability compensation

Query no.3: How does the demise of a military member affect the benefits of the non-member?

Answer: Irrespective of the Court orders, after the death of a military member, there are no retirement benefits that are paid to the non-member (i.e. former spouse). In case, the military member perishes before retiring, the former spouse is not even offered the first retirement benefit. However, when the military member dies after retirement, the payments that are being made to the former spouse are stopped. Those who desire to secure this income, have to adopt other alternatives like annuity or life insurance or the service Survivor Benefit Plan.

Query no.4: Please throw light on the power of the state Court to divide retirement payment?

Answer: The lawyer must make a reference to 10 USC Section 1408(c)(4) and discuss its limitations. As per the state rules, the state Court may end the marriage and divide the property. However, the circumstances in which the state Court is empowered to regard retired pay as property are controlled by the Federal Laws.

Questions to ask to a military divorce lawyer

• Please explain the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act
• Is the Code of Federal Regulations related to military divorces?
• The number of cases the lawyer has managed previously that included military retired pay. Out of these, the number of cases that reached trial stage and the number that were settled
• The number of cases in which the lawyer has represented non-military members and the number in which military members have been represented
• If a spouse desires a part of retired pay as an award, for what duration must the spouse be married to the military member
• What is the difference between an award of retired pay and maintenance or child support?
• If a retired military member opts for civil service, how the division of retired pay would be affected

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