Texas Military Divorce Attorney

Military pensions are also an important factor for negotiation in a Texas military divorce. When someone retires from the military after serving for at least twenty years, they receive a sizable pension for the rest of their life. Typically, the former spouse receives half of the pension if they were married for at least ten years of the service period. However, this is negotiable. Sometimes spouses married for less time still receive half of the pension. Sometimes, spouses married for a decade still receive less than half of the pension. The military will not give an ex-spouse more than half of the pension, so if the court orders more the military spouse is required to give that money directly to his or her ex.
There are definitely cases where the military spouse tries to be vindictive to prevent their former spouse from receiving benefits. For example, the might retire at 19 years, right before earning the pension. Or, they might work much longer than expected, delaying the time until they withdraw the pension. People divorcing service members can write specific expectations into the divorce decree.

There is also the question of the Survivor Benefit Plan, which pays out if the military spouse is killed in the line of duty. This can also be negotiated in the divorce so that the former spouse and children can remain the beneficiaries.