DIVIDING MILITARY RETIRED PAY

The usual share is fifty percent of the marital portion of the pension.  The value of the military pension is ordinarily quite large, since military members can retire with as little as twenty years of service. 

The Ten Year Rule?

My spouse and I were only married for 5 years before he/she retired from the military.  Am I entitled to any of their pension?

The portion of the pension earned during the marriage is a marital asset subject to division.  There is no minimum number of years overlapping military service as a requirement to the division of the pension.  The Ten Year Rule, ten years of marriage that overlap ten years of service, is the requirement that must be met for direct payments through the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS).  The Court can still order direct payments from the spouse.

The division (or defense of the division) of military retired pay is fraught with restrictions, snags, and hurdles for the unwary.  Such an action can quickly get expensive for the inexperienced.