As a proud United States Air Force veteran, Michael Mackhanlall understands the legal and practical intricacies active-duty members and military spouses face in divorce and custody cases — the moves, the deployments, the pension, and the career sensitivities most courts and many lawyers simply don't know.
Jurisdiction is the first battle
Florida's long-arm statute (§ 48.193) can reach service members and spouses in support, property, and paternity matters — but its "prior residence" provision has limits, and when a military family PCSs away from Florida, jurisdiction may be lost. When a spouse or parent is stationed abroad, service of process may need to comply with the Hague Service Convention, including translation requirements — an area where this firm has real experience.
Three separate questions get collapsed into one and should not be. Divorce jurisdiction turns on six months' Florida residency by one spouse — and for service members, lawful domicile can be Florida even while stationed elsewhere. Custody jurisdiction runs on a different track entirely, under the UCCJEA, which looks to the child's home state for the six months before filing. Support jurisdiction runs on a third, under UIFSA. It is entirely possible for Florida to have power to dissolve the marriage while another state controls the parenting plan, or for an existing out-of-state support order to remain enforceable here after registration.
Filing location is therefore a strategic choice, not an administrative one, and for a mobile family it is often the single most consequential decision in the case.
The military pension — often the biggest asset
Under § 61.076, Florida Statutes, vested and non-vested pensions are marital property subject to equitable distribution. Over a career, a military pension is routinely worth six or seven figures — an E-6 or O-6 retirement stream, valued over a normal life expectancy, dwarfs most other marital assets. Failing to divide it properly — or to receive real consideration for waiving it — is an error that usually cannot be fixed after final judgment.
Division runs through the federal Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act, 10 U.S.C. § 1408. The USFSPA does not award anything by itself; it permits a state court to treat disposable retired pay as divisible property and sets the conditions under which the Defense Finance and Accounting Service will pay a former spouse directly. What is divisible is disposable retired pay — gross retired pay less certain deductions, most significantly any portion waived to receive VA disability compensation. That waiver problem catches people: a post-judgment election that converts retired pay to disability can shrink the former spouse's share, and the drafting has to anticipate it.
The 10/10 rule — and what it does not mean
The most persistent myth in military divorce. The 10/10 rule asks whether the marriage lasted at least ten years overlapping at least ten years of creditable service. If it did, DFAS will pay the former spouse's share directly.
That is all it decides. It is a payment-mechanism rule, not an entitlement rule. A spouse married eight years to a service member still has a marital interest in the retired pay earned during those eight years; the difference is that the member pays it, rather than DFAS. Spouses walk away from six-figure claims every year because someone told them they "didn't qualify." They did.
The frozen benefit rule
For divorces finalised after 23 December 2016 while the member is still serving, section 641 of the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act changed the arithmetic. The former spouse's share is now calculated on the member's pay grade and years of creditable service at the time of the divorce — not at eventual retirement.
The practical effect is large and asymmetric. Promotions and pay raises after the divorce belong to the member alone. A spouse divorcing an O-4 with sixteen years in no longer shares in the O-6 retirement that arrives eight years later. Any order drafted from a pre-2017 template will be rejected by DFAS or, worse, accepted and then implemented in a way nobody intended. The order has to state the member's grade and creditable service as of the date of the decree.
Survivor Benefit Plan: the election with a deadline
A pension division order dies with the member unless the Survivor Benefit Plan is addressed. SBP coverage for a former spouse must be elected, the judgment must require it, and — the part that goes wrong — a deemed election must be filed with DFAS within one year of the order. Miss that window and the coverage is generally gone, whatever the judgment says.
SBP is not free; premiums come out of retired pay, and who bears that cost is negotiable. But a retired-pay award without SBP is an asset that can vanish on a date nobody controls, and it should be priced that way.
TRICARE, commissary, and the 20/20/20 rule
Non-pension benefits follow their own test, and it is unforgiving because it is arithmetic:
- 20/20/20 — at least 20 years of marriage, 20 years of creditable service, and 20 years of overlap between the two. The former spouse keeps TRICARE, commissary and exchange privileges in their own right.
- 20/20/15 — the same, but with only 15 years of overlap. This buys one year of transitional TRICARE and nothing further.
- Below those thresholds, the former spouse loses military health coverage on the date of the divorce, and the Continued Health Care Benefit Program is the fallback.
Where a marriage sits close to one of those lines, the timing of the final judgment carries real money. This is one of the few situations in family law where waiting some months to finalise is worth serious discussion.
Deployment, the SCRA, and section 61.13002
Two protections operate together. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act guards against default judgments entered while a member cannot appear and entitles a member whose duties materially affect their ability to participate to a stay of proceedings, with further stays available on application.
Florida then adds § 61.13002, which does the work the SCRA does not. Military service, or absence caused by it, may not be the sole factor supporting a permanent modification of time-sharing. Deployment can support a temporary modification that ends when the member returns, and the statute allows the member's time-sharing to be delegated to a family member during the deployment. It also contemplates participation by electronic means, so a member overseas is not simply absent from their own case.
The practical rule: a parenting plan for a deployable parent should say what happens on deployment before it happens. Plans that are silent become emergency motions.
Support: what actually counts as military income
Under § 61.30, income is defined broadly, and military pay is not just base pay. Basic Allowance for Housing and Basic Allowance for Subsistence are generally included in the support calculation even though they are untaxed — which surprises members who budget from their taxable figure. Special and incentive pays, hazardous duty pay, and drill pay for reservists are also in the mix.
The Leave and Earnings Statement is the document that decides these cases, and reading one properly is a skill. For how the guidelines then operate, see child support and alimony.
Parenting plans built for military life
A parenting plan negotiated around today's duty station fails at the next PCS. We build long-distance provisions into the plan from the start — schedules, travel costs, and support adjustments for a move beyond 50 miles — so you don't pay to relitigate the same issues in two years.
The relocation statute, § 61.13001, applies to military families like everyone else: a move of more than 50 miles for 60 days or more needs written agreement or a court order. Orders are not a defence to that requirement, which is precisely why the contingency belongs in the plan rather than in a motion filed three weeks before a report date. See time-sharing and custody.
Your career and your clearance
Florida's broad public-records law means unfounded allegations in family court can follow a service member's security clearance. Florida is a no-fault state; many such allegations are legally irrelevant — and we fight to keep inappropriate material sealed and out of the public record.
The same caution applies to injunction proceedings, which move fast and carry firearms consequences that can end a career outright. If an injunction has been filed against you, that is not a family-law inconvenience to be handled later — see domestic violence injunctions.
Military divorce FAQs
No. This is the most damaging misunderstanding in military divorce. The 10/10 rule — ten years of marriage overlapping ten years of creditable service — only determines whether DFAS pays your share directly. It has nothing to do with whether you have a marital interest. A shorter marriage still creates a claim on the retired pay earned during it; the difference is who writes the cheque.
It depends which question you mean. Florida can dissolve the marriage if one spouse has six months' Florida residency, and a service member can retain Florida domicile while stationed elsewhere. But custody follows the UCCJEA and the child's home state, and support follows UIFSA. Florida may have jurisdiction over the divorce while another state controls the parenting plan. For a mobile family, choosing where to file is the most consequential early decision in the case.
Only disposable retired pay is divisible, and retired pay waived to receive VA disability compensation comes out of that figure. A post-judgment waiver can therefore reduce a former spouse's share. Courts have limited power to order a member to make up the difference, so this has to be anticipated in the drafting rather than litigated afterwards.
For divorces finalised after 23 December 2016 while the member is still serving, the former spouse's share is calculated using the member's pay grade and years of creditable service at the time of divorce, not at retirement. Later promotions and raises belong to the member alone. The order must recite grade and service as of the decree date — orders drafted from older templates get rejected by DFAS.
Only if you meet 20/20/20 — 20 years of marriage, 20 years of creditable service, and 20 years of overlap. That keeps TRICARE, commissary and exchange privileges. With 15 years of overlap instead of 20, you get one transitional year of TRICARE. Below that, coverage ends with the marriage and the Continued Health Care Benefit Program is the fallback. If your marriage is close to one of those lines, the timing of the final judgment is worth real money.
Section 61.13002 protects you. Military service cannot be the sole basis for a permanent modification, deployment can support only a temporary modification that ends on your return, and your time-sharing may be delegated to a family member while you are away. The statute also contemplates your participation by electronic means. The best protection is a parenting plan that already says what happens on deployment.
A case can be filed, but the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects you against a default judgment entered while your duties prevent you from appearing, and entitles you to a stay of proceedings where service materially affects your ability to participate. Further stays can be sought. The protection is real but it is not automatic — it has to be invoked properly and on time.
Generally yes. Section 61.30 defines income broadly, and Basic Allowance for Housing and Basic Allowance for Subsistence are typically included even though they are untaxed. Special and incentive pays and reservist drill pay usually count too. Members often budget from their taxable pay and are caught out by a support figure built on the full Leave and Earnings Statement.
The Survivor Benefit Plan continues a portion of retired pay to a beneficiary after the member's death. Former-spouse coverage must be elected and required by the judgment, and a deemed election has to be filed with DFAS within one year of the order. Miss that deadline and the coverage is generally lost regardless of what the judgment says — which turns a pension award into an asset that can disappear.
Indirectly, yes. Florida court files are public, and allegations that are legally irrelevant in a no-fault state can still surface in a clearance review — financial problems and allegations of misconduct being the usual concerns. Much of this is manageable through what gets filed, what gets sealed, and how the case is framed. Injunction proceedings deserve particular care because of their speed and firearms consequences.
Talk it through — confidentially.
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This page is general information about Florida and federal law as of its last review and is not legal advice. Military divorce turns on facts a page cannot know, and federal pension rules change. Citations are to 10 U.S.C. § 1408, section 641 of the FY2017 NDAA, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and sections 61.076, 61.13001, 61.13002 and 61.30, Florida Statutes.