Are you an active or retired military service member who is facing the possibility of a divorce?  Unfortunately, long deployments have put an undue strain on many military families, and these challenging times have caused an increase in military divorce.  If you are based in one of Colorado Springs’ many military bases, then you may need some help understanding Colorado military divorce laws.  Aside from the usual issues facing couples in a divorce, military families must deal with the complexities of dividing their military retired pay.  This issue can be a major cause of stress in any military divorce, so it’s important that you understand how it is determined.

Whether you have been active in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, one of the benefits of serving your country in the military is the retirement compensation.  The thought of losing a good portion of these benefits in a divorce settlement may be unsettling.  As a lawyer who regularly deals with the Colorado military divorce laws, I can assure you that you do have legal recourse.

The distribution of military retired pay is still subject to the laws of the state where your divorce filing takes place.  Colorado is an equitable distribution state, which means that any asset that is considered marital property is to be divided fairly, or equitably.  A Colorado military divorce attorney can help you better understand what “equitable” might mean in your case, but you can determine the portion of military retired pay that will be considered marital property.  Simply calculate the total number of years you served in the military, and then how many of those years occurred during your marriage.

For example, if you were in the service for 20 years, and 16 of those years you were also married, then 80 percent of your military retired pay would be considered “marital property”.  From there, this and any other marital asset (including your spouse’s retirement benefits) would be divided equitably, according to the court’s determination.

Oftentimes, military service members will request a mediator to help them determine the best way to divide up retirement benefits.  A divorce mediator who is familiar with Colorado military divorce laws can be instrumental in getting you a settlement that works for everyone.  

 

To learn more about the Colorado military divorce laws and how they may affect your military retired pay, consult with a military divorce lawyer at the Marrison Law Firm.

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