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Military members and retirees recently applauded a briefing that occurred at the Pentagon regarding a 1982 law that allows state courts to divide military retirement as property in divorce settlements.
Military activists are pushing for the Defense Department to encourage lawmakers for a reform of the law.
Law Details
The Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act, USFSPA, currently allows the state courts to consider military retired pay as divisible property in regards to divorce settlements.
The law was originally intended to reserve the rights of stay at home moms who followed their husband’s military career to prevent themselves from getting divorced for another woman once the men were advanced to colonel status.
“Times have changed since then,” explains retired Army lieutenant colonel, Trish Larrabee.
Larrabee has served as a significant member of the activists fighting to eliminate, or at least amend, the act in recent months.
Meeting Held
Mary Benzinger, an attorney for the Army’s Legal Assistance Policy Client’s Assistant Branch, held a meeting to provide those affected by the law with a brief overview of the act’s provisions and to discuss the Defense Department’s proposed legislative changes.
Janelle Quinn, who is part of the Air Force, claims that the meeting explaining such laws has not happened in more than 20 years.
Quinn says that although she is a highly educated officer, it wasn’t until she was going through a divorce that she found out about the act.
“The first time I ever heard about this act is when I got divorced. The only people who are really educated about it are the JAGs,” says Quinn.
(Source: Stars and Stripes)
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