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Resources and Information Regarding Divorce for Active Military

One of the biggest issues that needs to be considered when a divorce happens involves military benefits. The spouse of a military person will be able to keep their military identification card as long as the divorce proceedings are pending but will have to give up the card once the divorce is final. When a divorce is finalized, the spouse of the military service member will lose access to housing within 30 days after the divorce decree. The nonmilitary spouse will also lose access to any healthcare benefits, but they can purchase as much as 36 months of healthcare coverage. A lawyer can also help without having to rely on a military retirement divorce calculator. Exceptions to these rules apply for longer marriage and service.

Only the spouse will lose access to healthcare. Any children of the service member will retain healthcare until they are 21 years of age, or if they are enrolled in a university, until they are 23 years old. If the marriage does end and relocation is necessary, then the military can pay for the nonmilitary spouse to return home. If the service member needs to pay child and spousal support, they will need to look at the rules regarding child support based on the type of military service they are serving in. This is only in the absence of a court order, and it is meant to be a temporary solution until a more permanent plan for spousal support and child support is determined.

A trained lawyer will be able to tell you how this will slow down the divorce process, and in some cases, the court can grant an extension to the request for divorce after the initial 90-day period. The military person may have as long as it is necessary for them to complete their military service and respond to the divorce proceedings. It might appear to the nonmilitary spouse that they have no rights, but this is not true. Non-military spouses do have access to military legal assistance to help them decide on how to proceed with the divorce. However, they will need to find a civil divorce attorney to handle their case. The nonmilitary spouse can also have access to spousal and child support. They will need a Mesa AZ Military Divorce Lawyer to help them with military spouse divorce alimony, child custody, visitation, division of assets, and any other contested issue that the couple cannot come to an agreement on during the divorce process. There is a federal act called the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act that can provide further assistance to nonmilitary spouses after the marriage is dissolved.

There are other issues for the two people who are contemplating divorce when one person is in the military. For example, if the military member abandons their spouse without letting them know and without letting them know whether they will be returning, then the nonmilitary spouse is still considered to be married in the case of abandonment, and they have legal rights to obtain spousal and child support. It is important to note that divorces that occur outside of the United States will not be recognized by an American court.




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