There are many military bases in Texas, with nearly 200,000 total personnel spread across the state.
And, obviously, many of the personnel go through the same family difficulties as the rest of the citizenry, including divorce. In fact, it turns out that the military divorce rate has been steadily increasing, reports Military.com News. Much of the increase is a result of long deployments.
Still, on the whole the numbers are not that bad, reports the article:
Since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001, the overall divorce rate among military members has risen from 2.6 percent in 2001 to 3.7 percent in 2011.
These numbers are helped by various intervention programs that the military uses, including one called Strong Bonds. It puts on events around the country to strengthen family life according to Military News.
Military divorces are often complicated by the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act.
The law allows a state to treat military retired pay as marital property and therefore divide it in a divorce action; in short, retired pay is treated as a regular pension, and can be garnished for child support and alimony obligations, too. Also a former military spouse can continue receiving various benefits.
As for how a former military spouse qualifies under the Act, the requirements are as follows: “To establish eligibility for a court-ordered division of retired pay as property, the former spouse must have been married to the member for 10 years or more during which time the member performed 10 years creditable service.”
Military divorces, emotionally speaking, are just like those of average civilians; but they are complicated by various elements of law that do not affect regular divorces. As such, if you are about to marry or divorce someone in the military, you would be well-advised to speak to a family law attorney.
Related Resources:
- Find a Houston Family Law attorney (FindLaw)
- Military Divorce (FindLaw)
- Military Divorce Rates on the Rise (FindLaw’s KnowledgeBase)
ShareThis
