Divorce Planning for Military Families
Military divorce adds federal rules on top of state law. Anew's coach explains topics like USFSPA pension division, custody during deployment, BAH, and TRICARE eligibility in plain English, with your state in mind.
How Anew Helps
- Understand how military pensions are divided under the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA)
- Learn how deployment and PCS orders affect custody arrangements and parenting plans
- Know the 20/20/20 and 20/20/15 rules for TRICARE coverage after divorce
- Get clarity on how BAH and other military allowances factor into support calculations
- Navigate the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) protections during active duty
Key Features
- Coach explanations of USFSPA pension division and disposable retired pay
- Custody logistics track for schedules, exchanges, and shared expenses
- Coach answers about the 20/20/20 and 20/20/15 TRICARE rules
- Answers that take your state and your stage of the divorce into account
- Coach explanations of SCRA protections that can delay proceedings during active duty
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FAQs
Common questions for military families
Military pensions are divided under the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA). State courts can treat disposable retired pay as marital property and divide it. A common approach is a marital-share fraction based on the years of marriage that overlap with military service. Direct payment from DFAS to the former spouse requires at least 10 years of overlap between the marriage and military service.
Federal law (the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) says a temporary custody order based solely on deployment must end when the deployment ends, and a court may not treat deployment as the only factor in a permanent custody change. Some states allow the service member to delegate their custody time to a family member. Service members who are single parents or in dual-military couples with dependents must also keep a Family Care Plan. Anew's coach can explain the general rules for your state so you can plan ahead.
It depends on the 20/20/20 rule: if the marriage lasted at least 20 years, the service member served at least 20 years, and there was at least 20 years of overlap, the former spouse keeps TRICARE with the same benefits as a retired family member. The 20/20/15 rule gives one year of TRICARE eligibility from the divorce date. If neither rule applies, TRICARE eligibility as a former spouse generally ends at divorce.