On behalf of The Law Offices of Mary Ann Beaty, PC posted in Military Divorce on Friday, December 19, 2014.
As Dallas residents grow from teens and 20-somethings into their 30s, 40s and beyond, they gain valuable life experience. They learn to understand their own strengths and weaknesses; they learn how to roll with the punches life throws their way. While youth carries its own exuberance and idealism, Dallas residents who marry at an early age my find themselves struggling with the challenges of marriage and family life, particularly when one spouse is a military service member.
We talked in our last post about the overlap between military marriages and marrying earlier in life. In the interest of background information only — not specific legal advice — we’ll look quickly in this entry at some of the details that make a military divorce unique. These differences arise from the fact that there are distinct rules that apply in a military divorce.
For one thing, military service members or their spouses are allowed to file for a divorce in whichever state they are stationed in. However, they don’t necessarily have to. The filing can also be done in the service member’s state of legal residency, or the state where the spouse seeking divorce lives. Because different states have different laws regarding property division, child support and similar issues, this decision can have a significant impact on the outcome.
One other law impacting a military divorce filing is the Service Members Civil Relief Act. This stipulates that a legal proceeding like divorce can be put on hold while the service member is on active deployment and for 60 days after a deployment.
These are considerations that come up even before looking at child support or property division vis-à-vis military benefits. We’ve discussed those previously on our blog; however, readers with questions may find that a legal professional is able to offer helpful advice during this difficult time.
Source: Findlaw.com, “Military Divorce,” accessed on Dec. 14, 2014
