3 replies to this topic

[napdaddy]

It looks like I will be have to pay my spouse "x" amount per month for spousal support due to my military retirement (married 10 years while in the service). Question is whether this is a permanent monthly spousal support payment or is there a time limit when it will end?

I know that normally is spousal is awarded it is for a certain limit (2 yrs,4 yrs etc) but when it comes to spousal support based on retirement pay, I don't know if this is permanent or not.

[FindLaw_AHK]

Alimony is often deemed "rehabilitative," that is, ordered for only so long as is necessary for the recipient spouse to receive training and become self-supporting. If the divorce decree does not specify a spousal support termination date, the payments must continue until the court orders otherwise. Most awards end if the recipient remarries. Termination upon the payer's death is not necessarily automatic; in cases in which the recipient spouse is unlikely to obtain gainful employment, due perhaps to age or health considerations, the court may order that further support be provided from the payer's estate or life insurance proceeds. To learn more about this subject matter, visit the Family Law Center: Divorce and read Alimony as a good resource.

[Fallen]

Military retired pay/pension is a completely separate matter than spousal support. Military retirement/pensions are property issues, just like house, car, etc. (That said, people can agree to address it by way of X or Y scenario and ask court to bless it.) For example, if you were in for 20 and married 10 of those years, then there's a 50% marital portion and the formula would typically dictate as a result that she'd have a 25% interest in your retired pay/pension (if she were there for the entire 20, she'd have a 50% interest).

"Question is whether this is a permanent monthly spousal support payment or is there a time limit when it will end?"

I cannot fathom how we'd know the answer to this from here.

You need to seek competent local counsel.

[pg1067]

I agree that spousal support and the entitlement to a military pension are two different things. However, the original post expressly asks about "spousal support based on retirement pay." It would be helpful if the original poster clarified what he/she is talking about. I also agree that we cannot possibly be expected to guess what the court might order in a case about which we know virtually nothing (including the state where the case is filed).