Genuinely curious how badly I would get screwed financially if my wife and I divorce?
For perspective, she makes much more than I do, and has her own LLC business, but I bought the house in my name, before we actually got married.
We now have a kid, who we both love dearly.
I contribute to my TSP, and she has her own SEP account (I really sont know much about that).
We have seperate bank accounts, since it was just easier this way when she forst started managing her LLC and paying quarterly taxes.
Anyways, if we get divorced, does she get claims to any of my benefits, or retirement, or anything like that? Are there any wierd rules that the military does for divorce that are different than if we were both civilians?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Genuinely curious, how bad does a divorce screw you? (Spouse not military)
byu/LostInMyADD inMilitaryFinance
Posted by LostInMyADD
2 Comments
Depends on dozens of factors, namely your state, length of marriage, but even more specifically, whatever is in your divorce decree. Contact a divorce lawyer.
Spouses can potentially collect a portion of your military retirement if the length of the marriage overlapped 10 years of military service.
Idk what branch you are, if divorce is on your radar I would go to your base legal branch and they likely hold a divorce class on a certain day of the week and you have to do it anyway before you can talk to a paralegal on base, however, they typically can only help if the divorce is uncontested (in my experience).
You obviously can utilize a civilian lawyer but it’s going to cost you.
Unsure how alimony/spousal support would work given she makes more than you. I know for the Marine Corps it’s like 1 family member: 1/2 BAH/OHA, minimum $350 each.
2 family members: 1/3 BAH/OHA, minimum $286 each.
3 family members: 1/4 BAH/OHA, minimum $233 each.
4 family members: 1/5 BAH/OHA, minimum $200 each.
5 family members: 1/6 BAH/OHA, minimum $174 each.
6 or more family members: 1/7 BAH/OHA, minimum $152 each.
I don’t recall if it’s mandatory that you pay spousal support, she can decline it as well. It’s been a while for me.
Given you have a child you’ll have to sort out custody, and likely need a parenting agreement that will sort out who has primary physical custody and the shared schedule. This will likely be the biggest point of contention in my experience even when you both think everything will be amicable.