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What federal law does, doesn’t do with military pensions

On Behalf of | Sep 14, 2018 | High-asset Divorce

Being close to a major Air Force base, Omaha is the home to many men who are in the service. The military is a great career for many husbands and fathers, as it offers the prospect of security as well as decent pay and benefits, particularly as one progresses through the ranks.

One of the more important benefits is that those who are in the military long enough are entitled to receive a retirement pension after they leave the service. When a soldier is married, this benefit, just like other retirement plans, is helpful to the man’s family.

However, should the man’s marriage sour, a question may arise as to who should get the pension.

Under current federal law, military pensions do not receive any special protection from division in a high-asset divorce. On a practical level, this means that Nebraska family law courts can divvy up a military pension just as they would any other pension. The goal of the court would be to ensure that marital property is divided fairly.

However, it is important that federal law does not in any way dictate how state courts divide a military pension, assuming the state court does so at all. There are no set formulas are payouts for retirement pay under the federal law; these questions are matters to be resolved by the local courts.

What does means is that a man who has worked hard and sacrificed a lot to earn his military pension may be able to hold on to some or all of it even in the face of a divorce. At a minimum, he can insist that it be divided fairly between his former spouse and him. He should, however, consider speaking to an experience attorney about this issue.

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