2 Things To Keep In Mind When Considering A Divorce From A Service Member
Posted on: 11 October 2016
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Getting a divorce from a member of the armed forces can often be quite a bit more difficult and complicated than a traditional divorce, as a military divorce is much more complex due to the unique issues involved. For example, divorcing a service member can bring up such issues as pension and healthcare benefits. Listed below are two things to keep in when considering a military divorce.
Will You Be Eligible For Health Care Benefits?
One of the most important things to keep in mind when divorcing a member of the military is whether or not you are going to be eligible for health care benefits. This is a very important consideration, as going from being fully covered while you were married to having to get and pay for insurance on your own can often be a very unpleasant and expensive experience. In order to be eligible for health care benefits even after your divorce, you will need to have been married to your spouse for at least 20 years during his or her active duty service.
In that situation, you will be able to receive full coverage until you get remarried. The only way to avoid losing your coverage is to hold off on getting remarried until after your 55th birthday. In addition, it can often be a good idea to wait on filing for a divorce until after you have reached that 20-year eligibility milestone so that you can retain those medical benefits until you get remarried.
Where Should You File For A Divorce?
Another important consideration is where you should actually file for a divorce and start the process. This is exceedingly important because the state where you file for a divorce may not be able to make any judgments when it comes to a military pension.
If at all possible, you will want to file for a divorce in the service member's state of residence. The reason for this is that the government will always allow the service member's state of residence to handle the division of any pension. If this is not possible, consider filing from a state that can legally divide a military pension, even if the service member is not a resident of that state.
Contact a military divorce attorney like Karen Robins Carnegie PLC in order to discuss the many ways in which he or she can help you with a military divorce. Before filing for a divorce from a service member, it is very important to consider if you are eligible for ongoing health care benefits and from which state you will file for a divorce in order to ensure that you have the best chance to get everything that you are entitled to.