Alphabet Soup: CRDP, CRSC, VA disability, TERA, VSI, SSB, and TSP. How Are These Benefits Treated in a Military Divorce
The military loves acronyms. Learning to speak military acronym was my first “second language.” I disliked it so much that I discourage overuse of acronyms in my law practice. The question is whether acronyms make things easier to understand, or harder. This blog is designed to make sense of the different retirement, disability, and pay benefits and explain how they are treated and whether they are divided in a Florida military divorce.
The phrase “military retirement” can describe several fundamentally different forms of compensation. Regular longevity retired pay, Reserve retirement, medical retirement, Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, Combat-Related Special Compensation, VA disability compensation, separation incentives, Survivor Benefit Plan coverage, and Thrift Savings Plan funds do not follow the same rules.
That distinction can determine whether a Florida divorce court may divide a benefit as marital property, whether the Defense Finance and Accounting Service can pay a former spouse directly, whether a payment can be considered as income for support, and whether a provision in a marital settlement agreement will be enforceable.
Regular longevity retired pay, Reserve retired pay, TERA retirement, and CRDP are generally divisible to the extent they constitute marital disposable retired pay. Chapter 61 medical retirement may be partially divisible, but the disability component is excluded. CRSC and VA disability compensation are not divisible as marital property. SBP is a survivor annuity that must be addressed independently. The TSP is divisible, to the extent that it is marital, as any retirement savings account would be.
Determining whether pay benefits are divisible requires identifying the federal statute authorizing the payment, determining why the member is receiving it, examining how DFAS calculated it, and then applying Florida equitable-distribution law.
For a broader discussion of the pension-division process, see our guide to dividing military retired pay in a Florida divorce.
Florida Law Divides Retirement Benefits, but Federal Law Defines What Is Available
Section 61.076, Florida Statutes, provides that vested and nonvested retirement and pension benefits accrued during a marriage are marital assets subject to equitable distribution. Section 61.075 likewise includes retirement, pension, profit-sharing, annuity, deferred-compensation, and similar rights accumulated during the marriage within Florida’s definition of marital assets.
The Florida Supreme Court recognized in Diffenderfer v. Diffenderfer, 491 So. 2d 265 (Fla. 1986), that retirement benefits earned through marital labor may be divided in dissolution proceedings. That principle applies to military retirement, but only within the limits imposed by federal law.
The principal federal statute is the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act, or USFSPA, codified at 10 U.S.C. § 1408. The USFSPA authorizes a qualifying state court to treat “disposable retired pay” as the property of the member alone or as property of the member and spouse. It does not authorize Florida courts to divide every payment connected to military service.
“Disposable retired pay” is a defined federal amount. It is not necessarily the gross retirement shown on a retirement estimate. Among other exclusions, federal law removes certain retired pay waived for federal disability compensation and the protected disability component of a Chapter 61 medical retirement.
The USFSPA also does not automatically give a spouse one-half of a pension. Florida must first determine the marital portion and then decide how that marital portion should be distributed. Our detailed guide to the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act explains the federal framework.
Regular Active-Duty Longevity Retirement
Regular military retirement based on years of service is generally divisible in a Florida divorce. This includes retirement calculated under Final Pay, High-3, CSB/REDUX, and the defined-benefit component of the Blended Retirement System.
The retirement system changes the calculation, but it ordinarily does not change the basic classification. The portion earned through service during the marriage is potentially marital. Service before the marriage and service after Florida’s classification cutoff ordinarily remain nonmarital.
Florida courts cannot simply give the former spouse the benefit of every promotion, additional year of service, or increase earned after the marital period. In Boyett v. Boyett, 703 So. 2d 451 (Fla. 1997), the Florida Supreme Court held that post-dissolution labor and contributions cannot be included in the marital pension value. More recently, Rushing v. Rushing, 433 So. 3d 887 (Fla. 6th DCA 2025), applied that principle to military retired pay and rejected a formula that improperly allowed the former spouse to share in retirement value generated by the member’s post-divorce service.
Federal frozen-benefit rules also limit pension division when the divorce occurs before retirement. Under 10 U.S.C. § 1408(a)(4)(B), the divisible benefit is generally calculated using the member’s service and retired-pay information as of the applicable divorce date, with authorized cost-of-living adjustments thereafter. The former spouse does not ordinarily receive the retirement enhancement produced solely by later promotions or additional military service.
For a closer look at these calculations, read our articles explaining how military retirement pay is calculated and the Florida appellate decision in Rushing v. Rushing.
Reserve and National Guard Retired Pay
Reserve and National Guard retired pay is also generally divisible. The major difference is how the marital share is measured.
Active-duty retirement is commonly analyzed through months of overlapping service. Reserve retirement is earned through retirement points. A Reserve pension order may therefore need to identify the points earned during the marital period, the member’s total qualifying points at the relevant cutoff, years of service for basic-pay purposes, the member’s High-3 retired-pay base, and any applicable frozen-benefit information.
A year of Reserve membership does not always produce the same number of points as another year. Using months or calendar years without obtaining the member’s retirement-points statement can materially misstate the marital share.
Timing also matters. A Reserve or Guard member may receive a 20-year letter but remain a “gray-area” retiree who is not yet receiving monthly retired pay. A Florida court may divide the marital retirement interest before payments begin, but deferred distribution ordinarily does not produce monthly payments until the member becomes eligible to receive retired pay.
Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan coverage is a separate issue. A spouse should not assume that receiving a share of future Reserve retired pay also creates survivor protection.
Temporary Early Retirement Authority Retirement
Retired pay received under the Temporary Early Retirement Authority, commonly called TERA, is generally divisible. TERA permitted certain members to retire with fewer than twenty years of service, often with at least fifteen years, during authorized military drawdown periods.
TERA is important because retirement before twenty years does not necessarily mean medical retirement. A TERA retiree receives length-of-service retired pay under an early-retirement authority. That pay is generally treated as divisible military retired pay to the extent it is marital and remains within the federal definition of disposable retired pay.
The benefit may be reduced because of the member’s early retirement, but the reduction does not ordinarily transform TERA pay into disability compensation. Any VA waiver, CRSC election, SBP premium, or other federal exclusion must still be examined separately.
Chapter 61 Medical Retirement
Medical retirement under Chapter 61 of Title 10 is more complicated. A member may be placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List or the Permanent Disability Retired List after being found unfit for continued military service.
A member may qualify for Chapter 61 retirement with fewer than twenty years of service if the member satisfies the statutory disability requirements. The retired pay may be computed under one of two methods:
A disability-percentage method based on the member’s Department of Defense disability rating; or
A length-of-service method based on the member’s creditable service.
The member generally receives the more favorable computation, subject to federal limitations. But that does not mean the entire payment becomes divisible merely because the length-of-service method produces the larger check.
Under 10 U.S.C. § 1408(a)(4)(A)(iii), disposable retired pay excludes an amount equal to the Chapter 61 retired pay computed using the member’s disability percentage. The exclusion applies to both permanent disability retirement and placement on the Temporary Disability Retired List.
If the disability-percentage calculation accounts for the entire payment, there may be no disposable retired pay available for equitable distribution. If the length-of-service calculation is higher, the amount above the excluded disability computation may potentially remain divisible, subject to the VA waiver and other federal deductions.
Consider a simplified example. Assume the member’s retired-pay base is $6,000. The disability method produces $1,800 per month, while the length-of-service method produces $2,700. The member may receive the higher $2,700 amount, but federal law excludes the $1,800 disability computation. Before considering any other authorized deductions, only the remaining $900 may fall within disposable retired pay. The former spouse’s marital percentage would then be applied to the divisible amount, not automatically to the entire $2,700.
The member’s DoD disability rating must not be confused with the VA disability rating. The Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs apply different legal standards for different purposes. A bank statement or tax return usually does not reveal the information required to perform this analysis.
In Martin v. Martin, 344 So. 3d 621 (Fla. 1st DCA 2022), the servicemember medically retired after sixteen years and nine months rather than completing the service contemplated by the parties’ retirement provision. The First District held that his disability benefits were not divisible property and that the trial court could not require him to indemnify the former wife from other assets. The decision demonstrates why a provision addressing ordinary retirement may not reach an entirely different Chapter 61 disability benefit.
Our guide to military disability and disability pay in a Florida divorce discusses these distinctions in greater depth.
Temporary Disability Retired List Benefits
A member is generally placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List, or TDRL, when the disabling condition has not sufficiently stabilized for a permanent determination. The member remains subject to periodic review, and the benefit can change when the member is removed from the TDRL.
TDRL status creates valuation and drafting problems in divorce. The member may later return to duty, transfer to the Permanent Disability Retired List, receive disability severance pay, or experience a recalculation based on a changed disability rating. An immediate-offset valuation based on a temporary payment can therefore produce an unreliable result.
The exclusion under 10 U.S.C. § 1408 looks to the disability percentage in effect when the member’s name was placed on the TDRL. Counsel should obtain the placement orders, disability findings, retirement computation, subsequent review decisions, and current DFAS records before determining whether any disposable retired pay exists.
Permanent Disability Retired List Benefits
A member may be placed on the Permanent Disability Retired List, or PDRL, when the disability is considered permanent and stable and the applicable statutory requirements are satisfied.
PDRL benefits remain Chapter 61 disability retired pay. The analysis does not end merely because the payments are permanent. The court must still separate the federally excluded disability computation from any remaining length-of-service component that qualifies as disposable retired pay.
A provision awarding a former spouse a percentage of “all military retirement” is not a reliable substitute for this analysis. DFAS applies federal law even if the state judgment uses broader language.
Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay
Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, commonly called CRDP, is generally divisible because it restores retired pay that otherwise would have been waived to receive VA disability compensation. CRDP is taxable military retired pay and is governed by the rules applicable to retired pay. It is not a new, separate disability award.
In Youngblood v. Youngblood, 959 So. 2d 416 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007), the First District explained that concurrent disability pay restored retirement pay previously lost through a VA waiver. It did not create an additional retirement benefit that could be counted twice. That distinction remains important when reviewing payment histories or enforcing older judgments.
For an ordinary longevity retiree who qualifies for CRDP, the restoration generally increases the disposable retired pay from which the former spouse’s awarded percentage is calculated. DFAS may correspondingly increase the former-spouse payment.
A Chapter 61 retiree with twenty or more years of creditable service presents a more specialized question. Section 1414(b)(1) permits qualifying Chapter 61 retirees to receive concurrent retired pay, but generally only up to the amount they would have received through a length-of-service retirement. Any Chapter 61 disability amount exceeding the hypothetical longevity retirement remains subject to the federal disability rules.
In Department of Defense Claims Case No. 2016-CL-091608.3, decided March 1, 2022, the DoD Claims Appeals Board held that the longevity-based retired pay restored through CRDP for a qualifying Chapter 61 retiree was divisible under the USFSPA. The Board reasoned that CRDP restores retirement based on years of service rather than the protected disability excess.
The practical lesson is that “Chapter 61” does not always answer the entire question. Counsel must determine whether the member has twenty years of qualifying service, whether CRDP is being paid, how much of the payment represents hypothetical longevity retirement, and whether any excess remains protected disability retired pay.
A Reserve or Guard member who receives an immediate Chapter 61 retirement after receiving a 20-year letter may face another timing issue. The member may not receive concurrent length-of-service retired pay until reaching the age at which nonregular retired pay otherwise would have begun.
Combat-Related Special Compensation
Combat-Related Special Compensation, or CRSC, is not divisible as marital property. Section 1413a(g) of Title 10 expressly states that CRSC payments are not retired pay.
CRSC is tax-free compensation available to qualifying retirees with combat-related disabilities. It may restore some or all of the retired pay lost through a VA waiver, but Congress deliberately classified it as special compensation rather than retired pay. It therefore falls outside the property-division authority created by the USFSPA.
CRSC can nevertheless have a major economic effect on a former spouse. A retiree who qualifies for both CRDP and CRSC may elect between them during the applicable election period. CRDP ordinarily increases divisible retired pay. CRSC does not. Switching from CRDP to CRSC may therefore reduce or eliminate the amount DFAS pays directly to the former spouse as a property award.
That does not make CRSC invisible. CRSC may be relevant to the member’s income, financial resources, ability to pay support, attorney’s fees, and overall settlement position. DFAS also recognizes that CRSC may be subject to collection or garnishment for qualifying alimony and child-support obligations. Property division and support, however, remain separate legal questions.
A settlement provision promising that the former spouse will receive the same property payment regardless of a CRSC election creates a serious federal-preemption issue. A court cannot accomplish indirectly what federal law prohibits directly. The agreement should distinguish lawful disclosure, notice, cooperation, support, and property provisions from an attempted division of CRSC itself.
VA Disability Compensation
VA disability compensation is not divisible as marital property. It is a federal disability benefit, not disposable military retired pay.
A military retiree may be required to waive an equivalent amount of retired pay to receive VA disability compensation. The waived portion is excluded from disposable retired pay under 10 U.S.C. § 1408.
In Mansell v. Mansell, 490 U.S. 581 (1989), the United States Supreme Court held that state courts cannot divide military retirement waived to receive VA disability compensation. In Howell v. Howell, 581 U.S. 214 (2017), the Court extended that protection to a post-divorce waiver. A state court cannot order the retiree to reimburse or indemnify the former spouse simply to replace the retirement share lost through the waiver.
That rule applies even if the original judgment described the former spouse’s interest as vested. As the Supreme Court explained in Howell, a state court cannot vest a property interest that federal law does not permit it to award.
VA disability compensation may still be considered in a legitimate support analysis. In Rose v. Rose, 481 U.S. 619 (1987), the Supreme Court held that federal law did not prevent a state court from enforcing a child-support obligation against a veteran whose income included disability benefits. In Naples v. Naples, 967 So. 2d 944 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007), the Second District held that the USFSPA did not invalidate an alimony obligation merely because military disability benefits were among the payor’s available income sources.
The distinction is essential. A Florida court may examine disability income when determining genuine need and ability to pay. It cannot label a prohibited property reimbursement as “alimony” solely to restore a lost pension share.
For support cases involving retirement and disability compensation, see our guide to calculating military income in a Florida divorce.
Voluntary Separation Incentive and Special Separation Benefit Payments
Voluntary Separation Incentive payments and Special Separation Benefits are not ordinary monthly military retired pay. They were created as force-reduction incentives for qualifying members who voluntarily separated before completing a traditional retirement.
VSI generally involved a series of payments, while SSB commonly involved a lump-sum payment. Because these benefits are not disposable retired pay under the USFSPA, DFAS pension-division procedures do not necessarily control their division.
Florida law may nevertheless reach them. In Kelson v. Kelson, 675 So. 2d 1370 (Fla. 1996), the Florida Supreme Court concluded that VSI benefits were sufficiently similar to retired pay to permit enforcement of a settlement agreement awarding the spouse an interest in military retirement. The Court described VSI as the functional equivalent of the retirement benefit at issue and concluded that the servicemember could not defeat the spouse’s awarded interest by unilaterally changing the form of the benefit.
Kelson does not mean that every separation payment must automatically be divided. The court must examine when the benefit was earned, the language of the agreement or judgment, whether the payment replaced an expected retirement interest, and the purpose of the benefit. Direct DFAS payment under the USFSPA may not be available, so enforcement may depend on the terms of the Florida judgment and ordinary state-law remedies.
These programs are most likely to arise in older judgments or enforcement cases. Their classification should not be assumed from the words “separation pay.”
The Survivor Benefit Plan
The Survivor Benefit Plan, or SBP, is not a divisible pension payment. It is a separate survivor annuity designed to provide continuing income to a qualifying beneficiary after the retiree’s death.
A former spouse’s monthly share of retired pay generally ends when the retiree dies. Awarding part of the pension does not automatically make the former spouse an SBP beneficiary. If survivor protection is intended, it must be separately negotiated, ordered, and implemented.
The judgment or settlement should address the form of coverage, the SBP base amount, responsibility for the premium, cooperation with required forms, and whether the former spouse will submit a deemed-election request.
Federal deadlines are unforgiving. A former spouse generally must submit a valid deemed-election request within one year after the court order requiring former-spouse coverage. The member also has a separate deadline for making an election after divorce. Waiting for DFAS to discover the divorce or assuming opposing counsel will submit the paperwork can result in the loss of coverage.
Learn more about Survivor Benefit Plan protection in a Florida military divorce.
The Thrift Savings Plan
The marital portion of a military Thrift Savings Plan is generally divisible in a Florida divorce. The TSP is a defined-contribution account rather than a monthly military pension.
This distinction is particularly important under the Blended Retirement System. A BRS participant may have two separate retirement assets:
A defined-benefit military pension; and
A TSP account containing participant contributions, government automatic contributions, matching contributions, and investment gains or losses.
The TSP is divided through a qualifying Retirement Benefits Court Order under 5 U.S.C. § 8435(c) and 5 C.F.R. Part 1653. A Military Retired Pay Division Order directed to DFAS does not divide the TSP.
The order should account for the marital cutoff date, traditional and Roth balances, outstanding loans, contributions made before or after the marriage, investment gains and losses, and the treatment of market changes between the valuation and distribution dates. A fixed-dollar award can produce a very different result from a percentage award if the market changes while the order is being processed.
Our complete guide to dividing a military Thrift Savings Plan explains the account-specific requirements.
Property Division and Support Must Be Analyzed Separately
One of the most common military-divorce errors is assuming that “not divisible” means “legally irrelevant.”
CRSC and VA disability compensation generally cannot be divided as marital property. They may still affect child support, alimony, need, ability to pay, financial affidavits, attorney’s fees, settlement negotiations, and post-judgment modification. Conversely, the fact that a payment counts as income does not make the underlying benefit a marital asset.
The pleadings, evidence, findings, and judgment should make clear which legal question the court is deciding. A support award should be based on the governing Florida support factors, not on an attempt to replace protected property. An equitable-distribution award should identify the divisible asset without improperly reaching federal disability compensation.
Documents Needed to Determine What Is Divisible
Tax returns alone are not sufficient. CRSC and VA disability compensation may be tax-free, and a tax return may not show the nature of each payment. An LES is useful for active-duty income but ordinarily does not answer how retired pay was calculated.
Depending on the issues, the parties should obtain:
The member’s DD Form 214 and retirement orders;
Current and historical Retiree Account Statements;
The retirement computation worksheet;
VA rating decisions and compensation letters;
The DoD disability rating and Physical Evaluation Board findings;
TDRL or PDRL placement and review orders;
CRDP and CRSC eligibility, approval, election, and payment records;
The Reserve or National Guard retirement-points statement;
The member’s 20-year letter and reduced-retirement-age documentation;
SBP or Reserve Component SBP election records;
TSP statements showing traditional, Roth, contribution, loan, and investment information;
Forms 1099-R and other tax documents;
Bank statements confirming actual deposits; and
Prior marital settlement agreements, judgments, pension orders, and DFAS correspondence.
The records should be reconciled. A deposit labeled “DFAS” does not establish whether the money represents disposable retired pay, CRDP, CRSC, Chapter 61 disability retired pay, an adjustment, or a retroactive correction.
Drafting and Enforcement Problems
A military retirement provision should be drafted for the member’s actual retirement status. A generic provision copied from another divorce can fail because active-duty, Reserve, retired, gray-area, TERA, and Chapter 61 cases require different information.
The order may need to address the marital fraction, frozen-benefit variables, reserve points, High-3 retired-pay base, commencement of payments, cost-of-living adjustments, taxes, SBP coverage, notice of retirement, document exchange, disability-related changes, and responsibility for correcting an order rejected by DFAS.
A Military Retired Pay Division Order is not an ordinary ERISA QDRO. DFAS will not rewrite a defective order for the parties. If the order lacks required information or contains inconsistent variables, the former spouse may need a clarifying order from the Florida court.
The DFAS application process for a Military Retired Pay Division Order should be addressed promptly after entry of the judgment.
The 10/10 Rule Does Not Decide Whether a Pension Is Divisible
The 10/10 rule is frequently misunderstood. It generally determines whether DFAS can pay a former spouse’s property award directly when the parties were married for at least ten years overlapping at least ten years of creditable military service.
It does not determine whether the retirement is marital property. A Florida court can divide the marital portion of disposable military retired pay even when the marriage and service overlapped for fewer than ten years. Without the required overlap, however, payment ordinarily must come from the retiree rather than directly from DFAS.
That difference affects taxes, enforcement, recordkeeping, and the risk of missed payments. It should be addressed during settlement rather than after retirement begins.
Federal Pension Jurisdiction Must Exist
A Florida court may have jurisdiction to dissolve a marriage but still lack the special jurisdiction required to divide military retired pay.
Under 10 U.S.C. § 1408(c)(4), pension jurisdiction generally must be based on the member’s Florida domicile, residence in Florida for a reason other than military assignment, or consent to the court’s jurisdiction. A servicemember’s presence at MacDill Air Force Base or another Florida installation solely because of orders does not necessarily establish pension jurisdiction.
This issue should be litigated or resolved before entry of the final judgment. Consent, waiver, and participation in the case may become important, but neither party should assume that ordinary divorce jurisdiction automatically establishes USFSPA pension jurisdiction.
Experienced Representation in Florida Military Benefit Cases
Military retirement and disability cases require more than inserting a standard pension paragraph into a settlement agreement.
Richard J. Mockler served in the United States Marine Corps before becoming an attorney. His practice includes sophisticated family-law, federal-law, financial, tax, trial, mediation, and appellate issues. He served as appellate counsel in Rushing v. Rushing, an important Florida decision addressing the exclusion of post-divorce military service from the former spouse’s pension share.
Angela Leiner represents servicemembers, veterans, retirees, reservists, National Guard members, military spouses, and parents in complex divorce and family-law disputes. Her litigation experience is particularly valuable when military compensation must be traced, classified, valued, and presented through admissible evidence.
Mockler Leiner Law, P.A. represents military members and families in Tampa Bay and throughout Florida, including cases involving MacDill Air Force Base, out-of-state assignments, overseas service, retirement, disability compensation, support, enforcement, and appeals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is military medical retirement divisible in a Florida divorce?
Sometimes. The Chapter 61 amount computed using the member’s DoD disability percentage is excluded from disposable retired pay. If the member’s length-of-service computation exceeds the protected disability computation, the excess may potentially be divisible. The actual DFAS calculations and retirement records must be reviewed.
Is TDRL pay divisible?
The disability component of TDRL pay is not divisible as marital property. Because TDRL status is temporary and the benefit may later change, the court should avoid valuing or distributing it without the placement orders, disability percentage, retirement calculations, and anticipated review status.
Is PDRL pay divisible?
PDRL pay is not automatically divisible merely because it is called retired pay. The amount attributable to the Chapter 61 disability computation is protected. Any remaining length-of-service component must be separately identified.
Is CRDP divisible?
Generally, yes. CRDP restores retired pay and is ordinarily subject to division as disposable retired pay. In a qualifying Chapter 61 case involving at least twenty years of service, the restored longevity component may be divisible even though the disability excess remains protected.
Is CRSC divisible?
No. Federal law expressly provides that CRSC is not retired pay. It cannot be divided as a marital pension through the USFSPA. It may still affect support and other financial issues.
Can a retiree switch from CRDP to CRSC?
A retiree who qualifies for both may be permitted to elect between them during the applicable election process. Because CRSC is not divisible, the election may reduce the former spouse’s DFAS payment. The consequences should be analyzed before settlement and whenever an election notice is received.
Is VA disability compensation divisible?
No. VA disability compensation and military retired pay waived to obtain it cannot be divided as marital property. Mansell and Howell also prevent a court from ordering dollar-for-dollar reimbursement merely to replace the former spouse’s lost pension share.
Can disability income still count for alimony or child support?
Yes. Protected disability compensation may still be considered in a legitimate Florida support analysis. The court must distinguish using income to determine need and ability to pay from disguising a prohibited property division as support.
Is TERA retirement divisible even though the member served fewer than twenty years?
Generally, yes. TERA is an early length-of-service retirement, not automatically a medical retirement. The marital portion of disposable TERA retired pay may be divided, subject to the same federal exclusions that apply to other military retired pay.
Are VSI and SSB payments divisible?
Potentially. They are not ordinary disposable retired pay, but the Florida Supreme Court held in Kelson that VSI benefits could be treated as the functional equivalent of retirement for purposes of enforcing an agreement. The answer depends heavily on the judgment, agreement, timing, and purpose of the payment.
Is the Survivor Benefit Plan part of the former spouse’s pension share?
No. SBP is a separate survivor annuity. A pension award does not automatically create former-spouse SBP coverage. The judgment must address coverage separately, and the required election or deemed-election request must be submitted within the federal deadline.
Is the military TSP divisible?
Yes. The marital portion of the TSP is generally subject to equitable distribution in Florida. It requires a qualifying TSP Retirement Benefits Court Order rather than a Military Retired Pay Division Order.
Does the 10/10 rule determine whether the spouse receives part of the pension?
No. The 10/10 rule generally concerns direct payment through DFAS. It does not determine whether the marital portion of disposable retired pay can be divided by a Florida court.
Can DFAS pay more than fifty percent of disposable retired pay to a former spouse?
For property division alone, the USFSPA ordinarily limits DFAS direct payments to fifty percent of disposable retired pay. That is a federal payment limit, not an automatic award of fifty percent and not necessarily the limit on every obligation a Florida court may impose. Different withholding limits may apply when support is also being collected.
What happens if DFAS rejects the retirement order?
The affected party may need to return to the Florida court for a clarifying or corrective order. A court can generally clarify and implement an existing award, but it cannot use clarification to create new substantive property rights after the judgment has become final.
Talk to a Florida Military Divorce Attorney
The difference between retired pay, medical retirement, CRDP, CRSC, and VA disability compensation can change the value of a divorce settlement by hundreds or thousands of dollars each month. A mistake may not become obvious until years later, when the member retires, DFAS rejects the order, disability compensation begins, or a former spouse discovers that survivor coverage was never established.
Mockler Leiner Law, P.A. represents servicemembers, military spouses, veterans, retirees, reservists, National Guard members, and former spouses in serious Florida military divorce and family-law cases.
If your case involves military retired pay, Chapter 61 medical retirement, CRDP, CRSC, VA disability, the TSP, SBP, Reserve retirement, pension jurisdiction, support, or enforcement, contact Mockler Leiner Law, P.A. online.
