Dividing military retirement is always an issue in a divorce where one party served in the military during the marriage. Under Tennessee law, a court has the authority to grant to a spouse a portion of a military member’s “disposable military retired pay” using a specific formula if the marriage overlapped the military service. Essentially, the formula is designed to grant the spouse one-half of the part of the retirement that accrued during the marriage. If the military member is in the military for certain periods before the parties married, that portion of the military member’s retirement is not to be divided by the court. In some ways, this is no different than a court’s division of civilian retirement that is earned during the parties’ marriage. However, military retirement requires specialized language and that requires an attorney with experience handling military divorces.

The Court also has the ability to divide a military member’s TSP (Thrift Savings Plan). The formula for this division is somewhat simpler. A court will generally determine what part of the money invested in the TSP was invested during the marriage and that part is typically what is divided between the spouses. Again, just as with military retirement, any portion of the funds in a TSP invested before the marriage is normally not divided by a court. The division of a TSP also requires an attorney with specialized knowledge regarding military divorces.

There are military benefits that are not to be divided by a court in a divorce. For example, VA disability awarded to a former military member is not to be divided by a court as part of a divorce even if the military service overlapped the marriage. Federal law does not allow a court do divide this benefit as this benefit belongs to the former military member exclusively.

In 2017, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case of Howell v. Howell, which radically modified existing law on the division of military retirement and if you are going through a divorce and either you or your spouse is in the military, it is important to contact an attorney who has knowledge of the specific laws that impact you. The attorneys at Patton | Pittman have decades of experience addressing the issue of military retirement in divorce.