Military Law Issue

[gyswife]

My husband and I have been married for 5.5 years. He is retired USMC.
He was married to his former spouse long before we met but for 22 years. During that time he was in the Marine Corps and paying in to retirement. When they divorced he was ordered by a County court in Texas to pay her 1/2 of his retirement upon retiring. They finally agreed to a flat amount of $700 a month to be paid out of the retiement directly to her. Because my husband was more concerned about getting a divorce than any long term worries, he agreed and the pay has been going to her for some 13 years. That is over $109,200 of tax free money that she has been receiving all these years under the title of "property settlement." She remarried 4 years ago and the military law that made him pay her the money in the first place (spousal protection act) says that when she remarries she no longer gets the money, which makes since to me. BUT her divorce papers say she gets it for life. My question for my husband is, does he have to abide by county or federal law. The military act is quite clear about this ending with her
re-marriage. My husband has stopped the payments as they were "discretionary" and the ex-wife has threatened to file charges against us. Are we within our rights to stop this ludicrous payment???? any help is appreciated.

 

[irish223]

My husband and I have been married for 5.5 years. He is retired USMC.
He was married to his former spouse long before we met but for 22 years. During that time he was in the Marine Corps and paying in to retirement. When they divorced he was ordered by a County court in Texas to pay her 1/2 of his retirement upon retiring. They finally agreed to a flat amount of $700 a month to be paid out of the retiement directly to her. Because my husband was more concerned about getting a divorce than any long term worries, he agreed and the pay has been going to her for some 13 years. That is over $109,200 of tax free money that she has been receiving all these years under the title of "property settlement." She remarried 4 years ago and the military law that made him pay her the money in the first place (spousal protection act) says that when she remarries she no longer gets the money, which makes since to me. BUT her divorce papers say she gets it for life. My question for my husband is, does he have to abide by county or federal law. The military act is quite clear about this ending with her re-marriage. My husband has stopped the payments as they were "discretionary" and the ex-wife has threatened to file charges against us. Are we within our rights to stop this ludicrous payment???? any help is appreciated.

I googled the military spousal protection act, and found this link:
http://www.military.com/benefits/retiree/uniformed-services-former-spouses-protection-act
which included this statement:

Remarriage of a former spouse does not stop the direct payment of retired pay as property unless the court so orders.

I also found similar information here:
http://www.dfas.mil/garnishment/retiredmilitary.html
I believe you are mistaken about the military act, and your husband is not entitled to stop payments. He should have checked with a lawyer before stopping payments, and he should certainly retain one now.

 

[irish223]

One other thing...
Within those links, there are examples of appropriate settlements. It is not uncommon to award the ex a percentage of the retirement. That percentage will also include all cost of living increases.

You were a little unclear about the court order. Did the court order one-half, and your husband and ex agreed to $700 outside of court? Or did the court order $700?

If the court ordered 50%, then your husband may be on the hook for more than the missed payments. He may also owe her half of all the cost of living increases that he has received over the past 13 years.