Florida Military Divorce Legal Guide

Florida Military Divorce Legal Guide

Last reviewed: August 15, 2026

Military divorce is not a separate cause of action. It is a Florida dissolution-of-marriage case complicated by federal statutes, military compensation systems, deployment, frequent relocation, specialized retirement benefits, disability programs, survivor protection, health coverage, and federal limits on state-court power.

Those complications matter at every stage. A Florida court may have authority to dissolve the marriage but lack jurisdiction to decide child custody, modify another state’s support order, or divide military retired pay. A financial affidavit may disclose base pay while overlooking tax-free housing, subsistence, special pays, bonuses, Reserve income, retirement, or disability benefits. A marital settlement agreement may appear comprehensive while omitting the federal language needed for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to implement it. A former spouse may be awarded part of a pension but receive nothing after the servicemember’s death because no one addressed the Survivor Benefit Plan.

The central lesson is simple: a military divorce must work under both Florida law and the applicable federal system. A judgment that is fair under Florida family law may still be unenforceable by a federal agency. Conversely, the fact that DFAS cannot make a payment does not necessarily mean the underlying Florida obligation disappeared.

This guide provides the statewide framework. More focused discussions are available throughout the site concerning military-divorce jurisdiction, service of process, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, military retired pay, military disability benefits, military child support, deployment and time-sharing, and other specialized subjects.

The Short Answer: How Does a Florida Military Divorce Work?

A Florida military divorce ordinarily requires counsel to answer at least five separate questions:

1. Does Florida have jurisdiction to dissolve the marriage?

2. Does Florida have jurisdiction to determine parental responsibility and time-sharing?

3. Does Florida have jurisdiction to establish, enforce, or modify child support or alimony?

4. Does Florida have jurisdiction under federal law to divide military retired pay?

5. Can the resulting judgment actually be administered by DFAS, the Thrift Savings Plan, the Department of Veterans Affairs, TRICARE, or another federal program?

The answers are not always the same. One spouse’s six-month Florida residency may permit dissolution of the marriage under sections 61.021 and 61.052, Florida Statutes. Child-related jurisdiction may instead depend on the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. Support jurisdiction may be governed by the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. Military-retirement jurisdiction adds the separate requirements of the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act.

Once jurisdiction is established, Florida law governs dissolution, equitable distribution, parental responsibility, time-sharing, child support, alimony, attorney’s fees, and most trial procedures. Federal law determines whether particular military benefits may be divided, what portions are excluded, how federal agencies process orders, and whether federal law preempts a remedy a Florida court might otherwise consider.

Who Is Covered by This Guide?

The same basic framework may apply to:

• Active-duty servicemembers and their spouses;

• Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard;

• National Guard and Reserve members;

• Military retirees and their former spouses;

• Veterans receiving Department of Veterans Affairs benefits;

• Spouses or former spouses seeking retired pay, survivor coverage, health benefits, support, or enforcement;

• Parents facing deployment, temporary duty, training, or permanent-change-of-station orders; and

• Families with military connections who have lived in several states or countries.

The governing details differ. Reserve retired pay is not calculated the same way as active-duty retired pay. A servicemember who is already retired presents different division issues from one who remains on active duty. A 20/20/20 former spouse may retain TRICARE eligibility, while another spouse may lose coverage upon divorce. A Chapter 61 disability retirement requires a different federal analysis from ordinary longevity retirement.

The case must therefore begin with facts, not assumptions.

Deadlines That Can Change the Case

Military divorces contain ordinary Florida deadlines and federal benefit deadlines. Missing one can affect jurisdiction, health coverage, survivor protection, enforcement, or appellate rights.

Common deadlines include:

• A response to a Florida dissolution petition is ordinarily due within 20 days after service.

• Mandatory financial disclosure is ordinarily due within 45 days after service of the petition or supplemental petition.

• A parent objecting to a proposed Florida relocation ordinarily has 20 days after service to file the statutory objection.

• A former spouse seeking a deemed Survivor Benefit Plan election generally must submit the required request within one year after the order requiring former-spouse coverage.

• An eligible former spouse generally has 60 days to elect Continued Health Care Benefit Program coverage after losing TRICARE eligibility.

• A divorcing spouse covered by Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance generally has 120 days to convert qualifying coverage without proof of good health.

• A motion for rehearing under Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.530 ordinarily must be served within 15 days after the judgment.

• A notice of appeal from a final Florida judgment ordinarily must be filed within 30 days after rendition.

These are general descriptions. The event that triggers a deadline, the effect of an authorized postjudgment motion, the form of the filing, and the recipient of the filing all matter. A party should never calculate a federal-benefit or appellate deadline by approximation.

Florida Jurisdiction to Dissolve the Marriage

Florida’s six-month residency requirement

Under section 61.021, Florida Statutes, at least one spouse must have resided in Florida for the six months immediately before filing. Residency must be proved. Section 61.052 permits corroboration through a Florida driver license, voter-registration card, state identification card, or testimony or affidavit from another person.

Military assignment creates a recurring factual problem: physical presence in Florida does not always establish Florida domicile. A servicemember may be stationed at MacDill Air Force Base while maintaining legal residence in another state for voting, taxation, licensing, military records, and future-return purposes. Conversely, a servicemember may establish Florida domicile even though military duties later require temporary absence.

Relevant evidence may include:

• The servicemember’s State of Legal Residence Certificate;

• Leave and Earnings Statements showing state tax withholding;

• Driver licenses and vehicle registrations;

• Voter registration and voting history;

• Home ownership or a long-term lease;

• Homestead filings;

• Addresses used on federal tax returns;

• Statements made in prior litigation;

• The location identified in wills, trusts, insurance, and financial accounts;

• Military orders; and

• Evidence showing where the person intends to remain or return.

No single document should automatically decide domicile. The court examines conduct and intent together. A last-minute change of paperwork undertaken solely to create litigation leverage may be attacked as inconsistent with the person’s actual life.

Divorce jurisdiction does not answer every other jurisdictional question

When Florida has dissolution jurisdiction, it may terminate the marital status. That does not automatically give the court authority over every child, support, or property issue. A court can potentially dissolve a marriage while reserving or declining other issues that are governed by separate jurisdictional statutes.

This distinction is especially important when a military family has recently moved, a child remains in another state, an existing support order was entered elsewhere, or the servicemember’s only Florida connection is a military assignment.

For a fuller treatment, see our guide to jurisdiction in Florida military divorce.

Jurisdiction Over Children: The UCCJEA

Florida applies the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act to determine which state has authority to make or modify a child-custody determination. The UCCJEA addresses jurisdiction; it does not decide which parenting arrangement is best.

Home-state jurisdiction

The child’s “home state” ordinarily has priority. For a child at least six months old, the home state is generally where the child lived with a parent or person acting as a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the case began. A qualifying temporary absence remains part of that period. For a younger child, the inquiry generally begins with where the child has lived since birth.

Florida may exercise initial jurisdiction when it is the home state on the filing date or was the home state within the preceding six months and a parent or person acting as a parent remains here. If no state qualifies, or the home state declines jurisdiction, significant-connection and substantial-evidence principles may apply. Section 61.514 controls the complete analysis.

Military families frequently miscalculate the six-month period because they focus on orders rather than the child’s actual residence. A parent’s domicile and a child’s UCCJEA home state are not necessarily the same. A temporary deployment or family visit may not change the home state. A completed PCS move accompanied by the child may.

Exclusive, continuing jurisdiction

Once a state makes a qualifying custody determination, that state generally retains exclusive, continuing jurisdiction until the statutory conditions for losing it are met. A later move does not automatically transfer authority to Florida. The original state may need to determine that it no longer has the required connection or that another state is a more convenient forum. Florida must also respect the limitations on modifying another state’s order.

A parent who files a Florida modification merely because the child now lives here can lose months litigating in the wrong forum. Experienced counsel obtains the original order, studies the parties’ relocation history, identifies where relevant evidence remains, and determines whether communication between the state courts is appropriate.

Temporary emergency jurisdiction

Florida can exercise temporary emergency jurisdiction when a child is present here and has been abandoned, or emergency protection is necessary because the child, a sibling, or a parent is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse. Emergency jurisdiction is ordinarily temporary. It does not provide a shortcut around another state’s continuing jurisdiction.

The record must identify the emergency, the child’s present location, any existing proceeding, and communications with the other court. Labels such as “urgent” or “emergency” do not substitute for admissible facts.

Registration and enforcement

An out-of-state custody order can be registered in Florida for enforcement. The registration process gives the opposing party a limited period—generally 20 days after service—to contest registration on the statutory grounds. Registration is not the same as modification.

Jurisdiction Over Support: UIFSA

The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act governs interstate establishment, enforcement, and modification of child-support and spousal-support orders. UIFSA asks different questions from the UCCJEA.

Florida may acquire personal jurisdiction over a nonresident under the bases identified in section 88.2011, Florida Statutes, including personal service in Florida, consent, prior residence with the child in Florida, certain acts resulting in the child residing here, or another constitutionally sufficient basis.

Once a state issues a controlling support order, it may retain continuing, exclusive jurisdiction. Another state cannot modify that order merely because one party moved there. Registration may permit enforcement without permitting modification. Modification of another state’s order requires satisfaction of UIFSA’s separate jurisdictional conditions.

Military families are particularly vulnerable to UIFSA mistakes because relocation is routine. Counsel should determine:

• Which state issued each support order;

• Whether either party or the child still lives there;

• Whether the parties consented to another forum;

• Whether the relief sought is enforcement, modification, or both;

• Where the obligor’s pay can be reached; and

• Whether an income-withholding order can be sent directly to the employer or DFAS.

Federal Jurisdiction to Divide Military Retired Pay

The Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act, or USFSPA, authorizes state courts to treat qualifying disposable military retired pay as property under state law. It does not give every spouse an automatic share, and it does not give every state automatic jurisdiction over the pension. The governing federal statute is 10 U.S.C. § 1408.

Under 10 U.S.C. § 1408(c)(4), a court generally may divide retired pay only if it has jurisdiction over the member because of:

• The member’s residence within the court’s territorial jurisdiction, other than residence caused by military assignment;

• The member’s domicile within the court’s territorial jurisdiction; or

• The member’s consent to the court’s jurisdiction.

That federal limitation is separate from Florida’s authority to grant the divorce. A servicemember stationed in Florida solely because of orders may have a powerful objection to Florida pension jurisdiction even when the servicemember can be served here and the marriage can be dissolved here. Conversely, consent or affirmative participation may forfeit an objection that could have been asserted at the outset.

A pension-jurisdiction defense should therefore be evaluated before filing an answer, counterpetition, financial motion, or request for affirmative relief. Counsel should not assume that a general objection inserted later will undo earlier conduct constituting consent.

For additional analysis, see our discussion of the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act.

Filing, Service of Process, and Military Status

A Florida dissolution case begins with a petition and legally sufficient service unless service is waived. Florida law generally requires personal service on the respondent, although substituted service at the person’s usual place of abode may be available when the statutory requirements are strictly followed.

Service on a servicemember raises practical problems:

• The member may be deployed or aboard a vessel;

• Access to an installation may be restricted;

• The member’s location may be protected;

• The member may be in another state or country;

• A command may facilitate contact without agreeing to perform civil service;

• International service rules may apply; and

• Informal delivery through military channels may not constitute valid service.

A petitioner should identify the respondent’s actual location, status, unit, duty schedule, and applicable service mechanism before asking for a default. A servicemember should not assume that avoiding a process server will prevent the case from proceeding. Defective service can be challenged; deliberate evasion can create different credibility and procedural problems.

See our detailed guide to service of process in a military divorce.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA, protects qualifying servicemembers whose military duties materially affect their ability to participate in civil litigation. It is a procedural shield, not immunity from divorce, support, injunction, discovery, or final adjudication.

Protection before default

Before entering a default judgment, a court must require an affidavit stating whether the defendant is in military service or that the plaintiff cannot determine the defendant’s status. If the defendant appears to be in military service, the court must appoint counsel before entering judgment and may be required to stay the case. The federal default provisions appear in 50 U.S.C. § 3931.

A default entered without compliance can be vulnerable to reopening when military service materially affected the member’s defense and the member has a meritorious or legally sufficient defense. The remedy is not automatic. Timing, material effect, diligence, and the proposed defense matter.

Stay after an appearance

A servicemember who has appeared may request at least a 90-day stay under 50 U.S.C. § 3932. The request ordinarily must include:

• A communication explaining how current military duties materially affect the ability to appear and stating when the member will be available; and

• A communication from the commanding officer stating that military duty prevents appearance and that leave is not authorized.

Additional stays may be requested, but they are not automatic. If an additional stay is denied, the statute addresses appointment of counsel. A bare statement that the member is “deployed” may be insufficient when the member has regular communication access, available leave, remote-hearing capability, or no evidence connecting military duties to the requested delay.

The opposing party may test whether the requested delay is genuinely caused by military duty. Relevant evidence can include orders, duty schedules, leave availability, time-zone differences, communication capabilities, prior participation, and whether narrower accommodations would solve the problem.

What the SCRA does not do

The SCRA does not automatically:

• Suspend child support;

• Authorize unilateral noncompliance with a parenting plan;

• Prevent emergency protective relief;

• Stop all discovery;

• Eliminate the need to respond to pleadings;

• Create Florida pension jurisdiction;

• Excuse missing a federal survivor-benefit deadline; or

• Permit indefinite delay.

A tailored accommodation—remote testimony, rescheduling one hearing, extending discovery, preserving testimony before deployment, or allowing electronic execution—may protect the servicemember without freezing the entire case.

A waiver of SCRA protection must satisfy federal requirements and should never be buried casually in a settlement agreement. See 50 U.S.C. § 3918.

Our separate SCRA guide for Florida military divorce addresses these protections in greater detail.

Temporary Relief During a Florida Military Divorce

A military divorce can last months or longer, but families need immediate rules. Florida courts may enter temporary orders addressing child support, alimony, attorney’s fees, use of property, parenting arrangements, insurance, and other interim issues. Section 61.071 permits temporary support and suit money where appropriate.

Temporary orders in military cases should anticipate circumstances that civilian forms often overlook:

• Who remains in military or privatized housing;

• Whether a move from housing changes BAH;

• How temporary support interacts with an existing allotment;

• Who maintains TRICARE or other insurance;

• Who pays uncovered medical expenses;

• How children communicate during deployment;

• How leave periods affect time-sharing;

• Who bears long-distance transportation costs;

• What happens if PCS or deployment orders are issued;

• Whether either party may remove the children from Florida;

• Who has temporary use of vehicles, accounts, and military-dependent identification documents; and

• Whether the servicemember must preserve SBP, SGLI, TSP, and retirement elections while the case is pending.

Temporary relief is often decided on an abbreviated record. Counsel should not assume that missing records can be supplied later without consequence. Current Florida Family Law Rule 12.285 imposes accelerated disclosure requirements before temporary financial hearings: the requesting party generally must serve the required materials at least 10 days before the hearing, while the responding party generally must serve them at least five days before the hearing.

Military branch support requirements

The military branches maintain regulations addressing interim family support in the absence of a court order or enforceable agreement. The rules differ by branch, status, family composition, and circumstances. They are not a substitute for a Florida child-support or alimony order, and they do not necessarily use Florida’s guideline calculations. A command may take administrative action while the civilian court independently determines legal support obligations.

A spouse seeking command assistance should preserve the request, the documents supplied, the command response, and all payments received. A servicemember should document voluntary support instead of relying on cash transfers or informal purchases that may later be disputed. Our military family-support guide explains the relationship between command rules and Florida support orders.

Financial Disclosure and Discovery

Florida military divorce cases are governed by the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure. Rule 12.285 generally requires mandatory disclosure within 45 days after service of the petition or supplemental petition unless a recognized exception or valid waiver applies. The duty is continuing; parties must supplement materially changed information.

Mandatory disclosure is a starting point, not a complete military-financial investigation. Tax returns and W-2 forms may omit tax-free allowances, reimbursements, in-kind housing, combat-zone exclusions, TSP loans, Reserve pay, VA benefits, or pending retirement elections. A single LES can be distorted by retroactive adjustments, advances, repayments, deployment entitlements, or one-time bonuses.

Core military documents

Depending on the issues, counsel should consider obtaining:

• At least 12 to 24 months of Leave and Earnings Statements;

• Military orders, amendments, and travel orders;

• Enlistment, reenlistment, retention, or continuation-pay agreements;

• Records explaining bonuses and recoupment conditions;

• BAH, OHA, BAS, COLA, special-pay, incentive-pay, and per-diem records;

• Reserve point statements and drill records;

• Retirement orders and retirement account statements;

• Retiree Account Statements;

• VA award letters, rating decisions, payment histories, and waiver information;

• CRDP or CRSC determinations;

• TSP statements, account-type information, loan records, and beneficiary designations;

• Survivor Benefit Plan elections and premium records;

• DEERS and TRICARE eligibility records;

• SGLI and FSGLI election or beneficiary records;

• Post-9/11 GI Bill transfer records;

• Bank statements showing actual deposits;

• Federal tax returns, W-2s, 1099-Rs, and relevant military tax statements;

• Family-care plans;

• Housing records;

• Travel vouchers;

• Records of command-directed or voluntary support; and

• Communications concerning retirement, separation, transfer, deployment, or benefit elections.

Florida Family Law Rule 12.280 permits discovery through depositions, interrogatories, requests for production, requests for admission, subpoenas, examinations, and other authorized methods, subject to proportionality, privilege, work-product protection, and protective orders. The rule also addresses electronically stored information and expert discovery.

Subpoenas and federal records

A Florida subpoena does not necessarily compel a federal agency or military command to produce records or testimony in the same manner as a private Florida witness. Federal privacy statutes, agency regulations, consent requirements, and procedures governing official testimony may apply. A properly drafted authorization may produce records faster than a contested agency subpoena.

Counsel should begin federal-record requests early. Waiting until the trial subpoena deadline to seek DFAS, VA, personnel, medical, or command records can leave a party unable to authenticate or admit the evidence.

Florida Family Law Rule 12.410 governs subpoenas in family cases. Notice to the other parties, service, document-production requirements, objections, and geographical limits must be observed.

Evidence, Authentication, Hearsay, and Confidentiality

Military cases generate official-looking documents. Official appearance does not eliminate the Florida Evidence Code.

Section 90.901 requires evidence sufficient to support a finding that an item is what its proponent claims. Section 90.902 identifies categories of self-authenticating evidence. Section 90.803(6) provides the business-records exception when its foundation is established through a qualified witness or permitted certification.

A printed LES, RAS, VA letter, bank statement, screenshot, text message, email, or social-media post may present at least two different questions:

1. Can the item be authenticated?

2. Does the item contain inadmissible hearsay or hearsay within hearsay?

Production in discovery does not automatically establish admissibility. A records custodian, business-record certification, party admission, distinctive characteristics, metadata, corroborating testimony, or another recognized method may be necessary.

Electronic communications

Texts and emails often prove notice, intent, admissions, support requests, deployment plans, threats, benefit elections, or agreements. The opponent may dispute authorship, completeness, context, date, or alteration. Preserve the native data when possible. A cropped screenshot may omit the identifying information or surrounding conversation needed for authentication.

Expert testimony

Section 90.702 governs expert testimony. The witness must be qualified, the testimony must assist the factfinder, the opinion must rest on sufficient facts or data, and the methodology must satisfy Florida’s evidentiary standard.

Military-divorce experts may include:

• Forensic accountants;

• Military-retirement specialists;

• Tax professionals;

• Vocational evaluators;

• Appraisers;

• Mental-health professionals;

• Social investigators;

• Guardians ad litem; and

• Experts familiar with DFAS calculations and federal benefit administration.

An expert cannot repair missing jurisdiction, rewrite an agreement, or instruct the court what result the law requires. A qualified expert can explain technical terminology, calculate alternative scenarios, identify missing data, and show the financial effect of competing positions.

Privilege and protective orders

Attorney-client communications are protected under section 90.502, subject to waiver and statutory exceptions. Psychotherapist-patient communications are separately protected under section 90.503. Disclosure to unnecessary third parties, selective production, or placing protected advice directly at issue can create waiver disputes under section 90.507.

Military and medical records may contain Social Security numbers, account identifiers, addresses, health information, security-sensitive details, or information about children. Redaction, confidentiality agreements, restricted filings, and protective orders should be considered before production—not after private information appears on a public docket.

Calculating Military Income

The most common military-support error is treating “take-home pay” as income. Florida does not calculate child support or alimony from the net-deposit line on an LES.

Under section 61.30, Florida Statutes, child-support gross income includes salary, bonuses, allowances, disability benefits, pension payments, and reimbursed expenses or in-kind payments to the extent they reduce living expenses. The fact that an item is tax-free does not exclude it.

Potential military income includes:

• Basic pay;

• Basic Allowance for Housing;

• Basic Allowance for Subsistence;

• Overseas Housing Allowance;

• Cost-of-living allowances;

• Flight, sea, hazardous-duty, hostile-fire, imminent-danger, medical, specialty, or incentive pay;

• Enlistment, reenlistment, retention, and continuation bonuses;

• Drill pay;

• Active-duty or mobilization pay;

• Retirement pay;

• Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay;

• Combat-Related Special Compensation;

• VA disability compensation;

• In-kind housing;

• Reimbursements that reduce ordinary personal living costs; and

• Recurring civilian or business income.

Not every payment should be treated identically. A true reimbursement for a documented mission expense may not represent spendable income. An allowance consistently used to pay ordinary housing costs ordinarily has economic value. A bonus conditioned on future service may require analysis of when it was earned, whether recoupment is possible, and whether it is recurring.

In State, Department of Revenue v. Price, 182 So. 3d 782 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015), the court approved inclusion of Overseas Housing Allowance where it reduced the parent’s living expenses. The case illustrates the proper inquiry: the label on the LES matters less than the payment’s economic effect.

Government housing and in-kind benefits

When a servicemember receives BAH, the amount usually appears on the LES. When the family lives in government housing and no cash housing allowance reaches the bank account, the housing benefit may still reduce living expenses. The proponent should present evidence of the actual benefit rather than asking the court to guess.

Relevant evidence may include the applicable BAH rate, the type and location of housing, what utilities are included, whether the member surrendered BAH, and what comparable housing would cost. A court should avoid both extremes: pretending free or subsidized housing has no value, or assigning a speculative value unsupported by evidence.

Variable and deployment-related pay

Special pays may begin or end with deployment, assignment, qualification, or duty status. The court should determine whether the income is recurring, historically reliable, expected to continue, or genuinely temporary. Multiple LESs and military orders are more persuasive than a single month selected because it favors one side.

A servicemember who expects imminent loss of special pay should produce the order, regulation, qualification change, or assignment record proving it. A spouse arguing that the pay will continue should identify the historical pattern and present evidence contradicting the claimed termination.

Voluntary deductions are not automatic income deductions

The LES may contain TSP contributions, allotments, savings transfers, debt payments, insurance premiums, advance repayments, and other deductions. Florida permits only the deductions authorized by the applicable support statute. A voluntary TSP contribution or personal allotment does not necessarily reduce income available for support.

The correct process is to identify gross income, determine legally allowable deductions, calculate net income under Florida law, and then apply the guidelines or alimony analysis. It is not to copy “net pay” from the LES.

Our military-income guide provides a more detailed explanation of LES entries, allowances, and proof.

Florida Military Child Support

Florida’s child-support guidelines presumptively establish the support amount. A deviation of more than five percent requires written findings explaining why the guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate.

The calculation generally requires:

1. Determining each parent’s monthly gross income;

2. Subtracting only authorized deductions;

3. Combining the parents’ net incomes;

4. Applying the statutory schedule;

5. Allocating health-insurance, uncovered medical, and qualifying childcare costs;

6. Applying the time-sharing calculation when appropriate; and

7. Addressing any requested deviation.

Equal time-sharing does not necessarily eliminate child support

Florida now begins with a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in a child’s best interests, but that presumption does not create a presumption of zero child support. The child-support calculation considers both incomes, qualifying costs, and the number of overnights. Under section 61.30, the substantial-time-sharing calculation applies when a parent has at least 20 percent of the annual overnights.

A parent with substantially greater income may owe support even under an equal schedule. The court may also consider whether the schedule on paper is actually exercised.

Imputation of income

A court may impute income when unemployment or underemployment is voluntary, subject to statutory findings and evidentiary requirements. The party seeking imputation must prove voluntariness and identify the amount and source of available income with competent, substantial evidence. The statute restricts reliance on stale records and earnings levels the parent has never achieved, except in specified circumstances.

Military imputation disputes may arise when a member:

• Voluntarily separates before retirement;

• Declines available continuation or bonus opportunities;

• Retires and accepts lower-paying work;

• Loses special pay through misconduct or failure to maintain qualifications;

• Transfers from active duty to the Reserve;

• Claims a medical inability to work;

• Refuses available civilian employment; or

• Leaves civilian employment because of military obligations.

The court should distinguish a strategic reduction of income from a reduction caused by orders, disability, force restructuring, mandatory retirement, or circumstances outside the parent’s control.

Social Security and VA dependent benefits

Section 61.30 expressly addresses Social Security retirement or disability benefits paid to a child because of a parent. Those benefits are included in the parent’s gross income and credited in the statutory calculation.

The statute does not establish the same automatic dollar-for-dollar treatment for every VA payment associated with a dependent. Counsel should identify who legally receives the payment, why it is paid, whether it is included in the parent’s gross income, and whether another credit is authorized. A party should not simply subtract a claimed “dependent benefit” from support.

Retroactive support and modification

Florida may award retroactive child support for a period preceding the filing of the petition, subject to the statutory limit—generally no more than 24 months before filing—and the circumstances during that period. Existing support may be modified upon a legally sufficient change in circumstances. A guideline difference must ordinarily equal at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater, before the guidelines alone establish the required change.

Deployment, promotion, retirement, separation from service, receipt of disability benefits, a new parenting schedule, or a change in health-insurance costs may support modification. None changes the court order automatically. Until modification is granted, the existing obligation ordinarily remains enforceable.

For a focused analysis, see our guide to Florida military child-support calculations.

Florida Alimony in Military Divorce

Florida’s current alimony statute authorizes temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational alimony. It no longer authorizes permanent alimony in an initial case governed by the present version of section 61.08. The current statute applies to initial petitions pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023.

The court first determines whether the requesting spouse has an actual need and whether the other spouse has the ability to pay. The requesting spouse bears the burden on both issues. If that threshold is met, the court considers the statutory factors and must make the required written findings.

Military facts may materially affect those factors:

• Frequent PCS moves may have interrupted a spouse’s career;

• Foreign assignments may have prevented employment;

• Childcare during deployment may have limited earning capacity;

• Professional licenses may not have transferred easily between states;

• The family’s standard of living may have depended on tax-free allowances and subsidized benefits;

• A spouse may lose TRICARE and military privileges upon divorce;

• Retirement or disability may affect the servicemember’s future income; and

• The marriage may have overlapped only part of the military career.

Current forms and limits

Bridge-the-gap alimony addresses identifiable short-term transition needs, may not exceed two years, and is nonmodifiable in amount or duration.

Rehabilitative alimony requires a specific and defined rehabilitative plan and may not exceed five years. A persuasive plan identifies the credential or skill, program, duration, tuition, related expenses, anticipated employment, projected earnings, and reasons the plan is realistic.

Durational alimony is unavailable after a marriage lasting less than three years. Its presumptive maximum duration is generally 50 percent of a short-term marriage, 60 percent of a moderate-term marriage, and 75 percent of a long-term marriage. Exceptional extensions require clear and convincing evidence under the statute. The amount of durational alimony is limited to the lesser of reasonable need or 35 percent of the difference between the parties’ net incomes.

Retirement pay as property and income

Military retired pay may be both an asset considered in equitable distribution and a source of income after retirement. Florida courts must structure the overall result to avoid inequity from counting the same value mechanically in multiple places.

In Diffenderfer v. Diffenderfer, 491 So. 2d 265 (Fla. 1986), the Florida Supreme Court recognized pension benefits as a marital asset subject to equitable distribution and cautioned courts to consider the relationship between property distribution and support.

The issue is not resolved by chanting “double dipping.” Counsel should show the actual property award, the income each party will receive, the parties’ postdivorce needs, and whether the proposed support calculation improperly reuses value already allocated.

Disability benefits and alimony

Federal law may prevent a Florida court from dividing VA disability compensation as marital property. That does not make disability benefits invisible when the court determines support. The United States Supreme Court distinguished support from property division in Rose v. Rose, 481 U.S. 619 (1987).

The party relying on disability should prove more than the existence of a rating. A VA rating does not necessarily establish inability to work, the duration of an impairment, or future earning capacity. Medical evidence, employment history, vocational testimony, treatment records, and actual work activity may be important, subject to privilege and confidentiality protections.

Retirement and later modification

Section 61.14 permits modification or termination of qualifying alimony upon a substantial change in circumstances and addresses reasonable retirement. In specified circumstances, a petition may be filed within six months before the anticipated retirement date. The statute allocates burdens depending on whether retirement occurs at a normal or customary age and whether the retirement is reasonable.

Military retirement at 20 years is not automatically “reasonable retirement” for Florida alimony purposes. A member may retire from military service at a comparatively young age and begin a substantial civilian career. The court examines the full financial and employment picture.

Equitable Distribution in Florida Military Divorce

Florida begins with the premise that marital assets and liabilities should be distributed equally unless the statutory factors justify an unequal distribution. The court must identify and value significant assets and liabilities and make findings sufficient to permit review.

Under section 61.076, retirement benefits are marital to the extent accrued during the marriage. Military retired pay, TSP balances, civilian retirement accounts, and other deferred compensation therefore require classification by date, source, vesting, and governing law.

Military cases may involve:

• Military retired pay;

• Reserve retirement points;

• TSP accounts;

• Continuation or retention bonuses;

• Accrued leave;

• Combat-zone savings;

• Civilian retirement plans;

• Homes financed with VA loans;

• Vehicles purchased or shipped during assignments;

• Tax liabilities from multiple states;

• Travel and PCS reimbursements;

• Overpayments subject to recoupment;

• Exchange or commissary-related obligations;

• Security deposits and overseas property;

• Life-insurance interests;

• Business interests operated during assignments; and

• Debts incurred during deployment or separation.

Federal eligibility is not always a divisible asset

Not every valuable military benefit is marital property. Federal law may prohibit transfer or division, as it does with Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement under 38 U.S.C. § 3319. VA loan eligibility, installation access, security clearance, and future eligibility for certain military programs are not ordinary assets a Florida court can award to the other spouse.

The court can still consider lawful economic consequences. For example, the home’s equity and mortgage debt are subject to equitable-distribution analysis even though VA loan entitlement belongs to the eligible borrower under federal law.

Bonuses and special compensation

A military bonus should not be classified solely by its payment date. The court may need to determine when it was earned, what period of service it compensates, whether it is vested, whether future service is required, whether recoupment is possible, and whether the payment replaced future income.

The party claiming a bonus is nonmarital should produce the governing agreement, payment record, service obligation, and recoupment terms. The party claiming it is marital should identify the marital effort or service period that generated it.

Military Retired Pay

Military retired pay is one of the most technically demanding subjects in Florida family law. It is governed simultaneously by Florida equitable-distribution law, the USFSPA, federal regulations, the applicable retirement system, and the exact language of the judgment.

There is no automatic half-pension rule

The USFSPA authorizes state courts to divide qualifying disposable retired pay; it does not award a former spouse a predetermined share. Florida determines the marital portion and equitable distribution, subject to federal limits.

A common active-duty formula starts with the months of marriage overlapping creditable military service divided by total creditable service months, multiplied by the spouse’s awarded share of the marital portion. Reserve cases frequently require a point-based formula. The correct denominator, multiplier, retirement system, and federal frozen-benefit variables must be confirmed rather than copied from a generic form.

Disposable retired pay

DFAS pays a former spouse only from “disposable retired pay,” a federally defined amount. Exclusions can include:

• Amounts owed to the United States;

• Certain forfeitures;

• Amounts waived to receive VA disability compensation;

• The excluded disability component of Chapter 61 retirement; and

• Survivor Benefit Plan premiums attributable to former-spouse coverage.

A Florida judgment cannot expand the federal definition merely by labeling an excluded payment “retirement” or “marital property.”

The 10/10 rule

The 10/10 rule requires at least 10 years of marriage overlapping at least 10 years of creditable service before DFAS may make direct property-division payments to the former spouse.

The 10/10 rule does not determine whether the pension is marital. It does not require a 10-year marriage before a Florida court may award a share. It is a direct-payment rule. When the overlap is less than 10 years, the court may still award a marital share, but the member may have to pay it directly. The 10/10 limitation also does not govern DFAS withholding for child support or alimony.

The Frozen Benefit Rule

For covered military retired-pay orders entered after December 23, 2016, while the member remains in service, federal law generally limits the divisible retirement benefit to the member’s rank or pay grade and years of service as of the applicable court-order date, with later cost-of-living adjustments. This is commonly called the Frozen Benefit Rule.

The purpose is to prevent the former spouse’s property share from including retirement growth generated solely by the member’s postdivorce promotions and additional service. The order must supply the information DFAS needs to calculate the frozen benefit.

A covered active-duty order may need to identify:

• The hypothetical retirement date;

• The member’s rank or pay grade;

• Creditable years or months of service;

• The retired pay base or information necessary to calculate it;

• The former spouse’s percentage or formula;

• The marriage and divorce dates;

• The required federal jurisdictional findings; and

• Whether cost-of-living adjustments apply.

Reserve orders may require retirement-point information instead of an active-duty service denominator.

Florida law and Post Divorce enhancement

In Boyett v. Boyett, 703 So. 2d 451 (Fla. 1997), the Florida Supreme Court held that, absent a contrary agreement, the former spouse’s interest should not include post-dissolution enhancement attributable to the employee spouse’s continued labor.

The drafting lesson is not merely to insert a fraction. The order must define what the fraction applies to. A percentage of the member’s eventual full pension can produce a radically different result from the same percentage applied to a hypothetical frozen retirement benefit.

Rushing v. Rushing: Technical Language Controls

In Rushing v. Rushing, 433 So. 3d 887 (Fla. 6th DCA 2025), the marital settlement agreement required a percentage formula but also tied the former spouse’s share to the member’s rank, years of service, and retired pay base at divorce. The trial court applied the percentage to the member’s later, larger retirement benefit. The Sixth District reversed and required an order using the agreed hypothetical retirement date, E-7 rank, 18 years of service, and the retired pay base established for the divorce date.

Rushing demonstrates three practical points.

First, every provision must be read together. A pension paragraph cannot be reduced to whichever number favors one party.

Second, technical retirement terms can have a definite legal meaning even when the agreement does not use every current DFAS label.

Third, a court can receive expert testimony explaining technical terminology without treating an otherwise unambiguous agreement as open to rewriting.

DFAS direct payment

DFAS may accept an award stated as a fixed dollar amount, percentage, formula, or hypothetical award if the order satisfies federal requirements. A military retired-pay order is not an ERISA-qualified domestic relations order, even though lawyers sometimes use “QDRO” as shorthand.

The former spouse ordinarily submits a certified order and DD Form 2293 with the required supporting documents and payment information. DFAS review is administrative. Acceptance does not establish that the underlying interpretation is legally correct, and rejection does not necessarily extinguish the member’s personal obligation.

DFAS generally limits direct property-division payments to 50 percent of disposable retired pay. That is a federal payment ceiling, not necessarily a state-law cap on the amount a court may allocate. Amounts DFAS cannot disburse may remain subject to the judgment’s lawful personal-payment provisions.

Information to establish before settlement or trial

Counsel should determine:

• The member’s date of entry into service;

• Marriage and dissolution dates;

• Periods of creditable service;

• Component and retirement system;

• Active-duty months or Reserve points;

• Current rank or grade;

• Promotion history;

• Retired pay base;

• Whether the member is retired, retirement eligible, or still serving;

• Whether a Chapter 61 disability retirement is involved;

• Whether VA waiver, CRDP, or CRSC applies;

• Whether the 10/10 direct-payment requirement is met;

• Whether the Frozen Benefit Rule applies;

• Whether SBP is requested;

• Whether an existing agreement controls; and

• What DFAS has accepted or rejected.

Our dedicated military retired-pay guide and USFSPA analysis examine these issues more deeply. Comparable civilian retirement issues are discussed in our guide to retirement-asset division.

VA Disability, Chapter 61 Retirement, CRDP, and CRSC

“Military disability” can refer to several different programs. Treating them as interchangeable creates serious errors.

VA disability compensation

VA disability compensation is paid under federal law based on service-connected disability. A military retiree may waive an equivalent amount of taxable retired pay to receive tax-free VA compensation. That election can reduce the disposable retired pay available for division.

In Mansell v. Mansell, 490 U.S. 581 (1989), the United States Supreme Court held that federal law does not permit state courts to divide as marital property the retired pay waived to receive VA disability compensation.

In Howell v. Howell, 581 U.S. 214 (2017), the Court held that a state court cannot order reimbursement or indemnification designed to restore a former spouse’s lost retired-pay share after a postdivorce VA waiver. Calling the remedy indemnity, reimbursement, damages, or equitable compensation does not avoid federal preemption when the practical result is replacement of the federally excluded retired pay.

Disability benefits may still matter for support

Property division and support are different legal questions. In Rose v. Rose, 481 U.S. 619 (1987), the Supreme Court permitted state enforcement of child support where VA disability benefits were the veteran’s principal source of income. Florida’s child-support statute also includes disability benefits within gross income.

A court may therefore consider qualifying disability income when evaluating child support or alimony even though it cannot divide the same benefit as marital property. The order should clearly distinguish support from a disguised attempt to restore an excluded property award.

Chapter 61 disability retirement

Chapter 61 disability retirement is military retired pay based on physical disability. Federal law excludes portions of qualifying Chapter 61 disability retired pay from disposable retired pay. The correct amount depends on the federal calculation, not on the label used in a Florida order.

Counsel should obtain the retirement orders, disability percentage, years of service, Retiree Account Statements, VA waiver information, and DFAS calculation. An assumption that all Chapter 61 pay is divisible—or that none of it is—may be wrong.

Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay

Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, or CRDP, restores qualifying longevity retired pay that otherwise would have been waived to receive VA disability compensation. CRDP is generally taxable and ordinarily remains retired pay subject to applicable division orders. Eligibility and payment are determined under federal law.

Combat-Related Special Compensation

Combat-Related Special Compensation, or CRSC, is tax-free compensation for qualifying combat-related disabilities. It requires an application to the member’s service branch. CRSC is not disposable retired pay available for property division under the USFSPA.

An election to receive CRSC can reduce or suspend DFAS payments to a former spouse if insufficient divisible retired pay remains. That financial risk must be understood before settlement. After Howell, parties should not assume that a broad indemnification clause will lawfully restore every reduction.

Evidence and strategy in disability cases

Important evidence may include:

• VA rating decisions;

• VA payment histories;

• Waiver elections;

• Retirement orders;

• Medical Evaluation Board or Physical Evaluation Board records;

• CRDP and CRSC determinations;

• Retiree Account Statements;

• Employment records;

• Social Security disability records;

• Medical and vocational evidence; and

• Proof of actual work activity.

A disability rating is not a complete vocational opinion. The veteran may be substantially impaired yet capable of employment, or may have a moderate rating but severe functional limitations. The court needs evidence tied to earning capacity, support needs, and the specific legal issue.

See our comprehensive discussion of military disability pay in divorce.

Survivor Benefit Plan Protection

Military retired pay generally ends when the retiree dies. An award of “50 percent of the pension” therefore does not provide lifetime income to the former spouse unless survivor protection exists.

The Survivor Benefit Plan, or SBP, can provide a continuing annuity to an eligible beneficiary after the retiree’s death. Divorce terminates ordinary spouse coverage. Former-spouse coverage requires a valid federal election. It does not arise automatically from the divorce judgment.

Voluntary and deemed elections

A retiree may make a former-spouse election within the federal deadline. When a court order requires former-spouse coverage, the former spouse may submit a deemed-election request. A deemed election generally must be received within one year after the order requiring the election and should include the required form, certified order, and divorce documentation. DFAS permits submission before the member retires in appropriate cases.

The former spouse should not rely on the member’s promise to “take care of it.” Nor should either party assume that continued premium deductions prove correct coverage. The election category and beneficiary designation must be verified.

The agreement or judgment should address

A sound SBP provision identifies:

• Whether former-spouse coverage is required;

• Whether coverage includes a child;

• The selected base amount;

• Who bears the economic cost of premiums;

• Whether the pension percentage is calculated before or after the premium deduction;

• Who must submit each form;

• Deadlines for submission;

• Proof of acceptance;

• Cooperation if DFAS requests correction;

• Treatment of remarriage or other changes;

• Reserve Component SBP when applicable; and

• Alternative security if federal coverage is unavailable.

Because former-spouse SBP premiums are deducted before disposable retired pay is calculated, the cost may already be shared economically when the former spouse receives a percentage of disposable pay. An agreement that separately charges the entire premium to one party without understanding the federal deduction can allocate the cost twice.

SBP is not ordinary life insurance

SBP is a federal annuity program. A Florida court cannot extend a missed federal deadline or create coverage that federal law does not permit. Life insurance may serve as alternative security in some cases, but it has different underwriting, premium, beneficiary, duration, and enforcement risks.

Our Survivor Benefit Plan guide explains election deadlines and drafting issues in detail.

Dividing the Thrift Savings Plan

The Thrift Savings Plan is a federal defined-contribution retirement plan. It is separate from military retired pay and requires a separate qualifying court order.

A TSP order should not simply state that one spouse receives “half of all retirement.” Current federal regulations require the order to identify the TSP, specify the account or accounts affected, and state an ascertainable award. The TSP cannot be joined as a party. It reviews the order administratively under 5 C.F.R. Part 1653.

Issues the order should resolve

The order should address:

• The valuation date;

• A dollar amount, percentage, or formula;

• Traditional and Roth balances;

• Gains and losses after the valuation date;

• Outstanding loans;

• Whether the award is limited to the marital portion;

• Tax treatment;

• Rollover rights;

• Submission responsibility;

• Corrective orders;

• Death before payment; and

• Beneficiary designations.

A TSP loan generally reduces the account available for division; the loan itself is not transferred to the former spouse. A percentage award may produce a different result from a fixed-dollar award if the market changes while the order is processed. If gains and losses are intended, the order must satisfy the TSP’s requirements.

The TSP ordinarily processes the former spouse’s award as a lump-sum payment from the account, not as a continuing stream of pension payments. Tax consequences depend on the distribution and whether the recipient uses a qualifying rollover.

Beneficiary designations require separate attention

A divorce and TSP division order do not necessarily change the existing TSP beneficiary designation. Each party should review and update beneficiaries directly through the federal system. A property award to a former spouse and a death-beneficiary designation are separate matters.

See our guide to dividing a Thrift Savings Plan in military divorce.

TRICARE, DEERS, and Post Divorce Health Coverage

A civilian spouse generally loses ordinary dependent status upon divorce unless the spouse qualifies for continued former-spouse coverage under federal law. A Florida court cannot order the Department of Defense to provide eligibility that federal law withholds.

The 20/20/20 rule

A former spouse may qualify for continuing TRICARE coverage when:

• The servicemember completed at least 20 years of creditable service;

• The marriage lasted at least 20 years; and

• At least 20 years of marriage overlapped the creditable service.

This is commonly called 20/20/20 eligibility. Additional federal conditions apply, including restrictions concerning remarriage and certain employer-sponsored health coverage.

The 20/20/15 rule

A former spouse may qualify for limited transitional coverage when the member completed at least 20 years of service, the marriage lasted at least 20 years, and at least 15—but fewer than 20—years overlapped. Qualifying 20/20/15 coverage is generally limited to one year after divorce.

Continued Health Care Benefit Program

A former spouse who loses TRICARE may be eligible to purchase temporary Continued Health Care Benefit Program coverage. The election period is generally 60 days after loss of eligibility. CHCBP can be expensive, but missing the election deadline may eliminate an important bridge to other coverage.

Children and DEERS

The children’s eligibility is generally based on their relationship to the servicemember, not on the parents remaining married. The divorce decree should identify who maintains coverage, who updates DEERS, who pays uncovered expenses, and how each parent receives insurance information.

The parties should update DEERS promptly after divorce. Using an outdated military identification card or assuming coverage continues can produce denied claims and administrative complications.

Health insurance as a financial issue

Loss of TRICARE may affect alimony need, settlement value, temporary relief, and the timing of divorce. The party claiming a future insurance expense should present actual premium, deductible, network, and out-of-pocket evidence rather than a generalized estimate.

See our guide to military health-care benefits after divorce.

Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits

Federal law permits qualifying servicemembers to transfer unused Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement to eligible dependents under specified conditions. It also provides that transferred entitlement may not be treated as marital property or an asset subject to division in divorce. The governing statute is 38 U.S.C. § 3319.

A Florida court therefore should not award GI Bill months as though they were a bank account. A settlement may address lawful cooperation, education planning, notice, or financial offsets, but federal eligibility and administration remain controlling.

The transferring servicemember generally retains federal authority to modify or revoke unused transferred entitlement. A promise that a child or former spouse will receive benefits should not be described as irrevocable when federal law permits later change.

Any agreement should distinguish:

• Benefits already used;

• Benefits transferred but unused;

• The intended recipient;

• Tuition, housing, and book components;

• The service obligation associated with transfer;

• Notice before modification;

• Cooperation with federal paperwork; and

• The consequence if federal law or eligibility prevents use.

See our Post-9/11 GI Bill divorce guide.

SGLI, FSGLI, and Other Life-Insurance Issues

Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance beneficiary designations should be reviewed immediately when divorce begins and again when it ends. A divorce judgment does not necessarily accomplish the desired federal beneficiary change.

Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance coverage for a spouse generally ends upon divorce. A qualifying former spouse may convert the coverage to an individual policy without evidence of good health if the conversion is completed within 120 days.

Florida courts may order life insurance or other security for child support or alimony when the governing statutory requirements are met. Alimony security under section 61.08 requires specific findings of special circumstances.

Because federal beneficiary rules can override inconsistent state-law expectations, parties should not assume that an order to “maintain SGLI” alone guarantees payment to the intended person. The safer structure may require proof of designation, periodic confirmation, notice of replacement, or separate private insurance when lawful and available.

Parental Responsibility and Time-Sharing

Florida uses the terms “parental responsibility” and “time-sharing,” not legal and physical custody. Under section 61.13, Florida Statutes, the court determines the child’s best interests and begins with a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child’s best interests. The presumption may be overcome by a preponderance of the evidence.

Military service does not create an automatic preference for or against either parent. The court examines the statutory best-interest factors, including each parent’s ability to facilitate the relationship with the other parent, provide stability, meet developmental needs, communicate, protect the child, and comply with the parenting plan.

Military facts that affect parenting plans

A workable military parenting plan may need to address:

• Duty days and shift work;

• Temporary duty and training;

• Deployment;

• Leave periods;

• Remote or electronic contact;

• Long-distance transportation;

• Travel costs;

• Passport control;

• School-year and summer schedules;

• Notice of orders;

• Family-care plans;

• Emergency contacts;

• Exchange locations;

• Make-up time;

• Nonparent caretaking during absence;

• Relocation procedures; and

• Return from deployment.

A parenting plan that ignores predictable military duties invites contempt motions and emergency litigation. The goal is not to excuse uncertainty; it is to allocate notice, decision-making, and substitute arrangements before the uncertainty occurs.

Family-care plans

A military family-care plan is important evidence of the servicemember’s proposed arrangements during absence. It is not a Florida parenting plan and does not bind the state court. The court may consider whether the plan is realistic, current, consistent with the child’s interests, and coordinated with the other legal parent.

A servicemember should not designate a third party to displace an available parent without addressing Florida law. A nonmilitary parent should not assume that deployment automatically transfers every decision-making right or permanently eliminates the deployed parent’s time-sharing.

See our focused guide to military child custody and time-sharing.

Florida’s Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act

Florida’s Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act creates procedures for temporary parenting arrangements when military deployment affects a parent’s ability to exercise court-ordered time-sharing.

Notice of deployment

Unless prevented from doing so, a deploying parent generally must notify the other parent of deployment within seven days after receiving notice. The parent must also provide a proposed plan as soon as reasonably practical.

The notice should not be reduced to “I am deploying.” A useful notice addresses known dates, destination restrictions, communication availability, leave, proposed caretaking, transportation, and anticipated return.

Written temporary agreements

Parents may enter a temporary agreement addressing caretaking authority, decision-making, electronic contact, transportation, support, duration, and termination. The statute identifies information the agreement should contain.

A temporary deployment agreement should expressly state that it does not create a permanent change or prejudice either parent’s position after deployment. It should also identify what happens if the deployment ends early, is extended, or changes materially.

Temporary court orders

A deployment order under the Act is temporary. The court generally may not enter a permanent order before the deploying parent returns without that parent’s consent. When a motion is filed before deployment, the court is directed to conduct an expedited hearing. Electronic testimony may be permitted.

The Act also permits limited temporary caretaking authority for a qualifying nonparent under specified circumstances. The court must still protect the other parent’s rights and the child’s best interests.

Deployment may not be used as a penalty

Past deployment or the possibility of future deployment may not, by itself, be used against a parent in determining the child’s best interests. That protection does not prevent the court from considering the practical effect of an actual absence or a parent’s failure to communicate and plan responsibly.

The evidence should distinguish military service from parental conduct. A parent should not be punished for obeying orders. A parent may still be held accountable for withholding information, failing to use available contact, violating orders, or proposing an arrangement that does not protect the child.

See our guide to deployment and Florida time-sharing.

Permanent Change of Station and Florida Relocation

A PCS order does not automatically authorize a parent to relocate a child. Military orders direct the servicemember’s assignment; they do not amend a Florida parenting plan.

Under section 61.13001, Florida Statutes, relocation generally means a change in the principal residence of a parent or other person from the child’s principal residence of at least 50 miles for at least 60 consecutive days, excluding qualifying temporary absences.

Relocation by agreement

The parties may sign a written agreement consenting to relocation. The agreement should address:

• Consent to the move;

• A revised time-sharing schedule;

• Transportation arrangements;

• Allocation of travel costs;

• Electronic communication;

• School and activity information;

• Exchange details;

• Future orders; and

• Court ratification when required.

An email saying “I understand you got orders” may not be a sufficient relocation agreement.

Relocation by petition

Without a qualifying agreement, the relocating parent must file and serve a sworn petition containing the statutory information. The petition ordinarily must identify the new residence, mailing address, telephone number, intended move date, detailed reasons, proposed revised schedule, transportation arrangements, and any written job or military offer.

The nonrelocating parent generally has 20 days after service to file a legally sufficient objection. Failure to object can permit the relocation to proceed without a contested hearing.

Burdens and evidence

Florida law creates no presumption for or against relocation. The relocating parent bears the initial burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that relocation is in the child’s best interests. If that burden is met, the burden shifts to the objecting parent.

PCS orders are powerful evidence of necessity for the servicemember, but they do not alone prove that moving the child is best. The court evaluates the child’s relationships, age, development, educational needs, feasibility of preserving the other parent’s relationship, reasons for and against the move, economic circumstances, employment, history of compliance, domestic violence, and other statutory factors.

A persuasive military relocation case usually includes:

• Authenticated orders;

• Reporting dates;

• Evidence concerning command-sponsored dependents;

• Housing and school information;

• Childcare arrangements;

• Travel routes and costs;

• A realistic long-distance schedule;

• Electronic-contact provisions;

• Evidence concerning extended family;

• The effect of denying relocation on military service and family finances; and

• A plan if orders change.

Unauthorized relocation

Moving first and seeking permission later can lead to an order returning the child, contempt, attorney’s fees, an adverse best-interest inference, and modification consequences. The existence of military orders does not excuse ignoring the relocation statute.

Temporary-relocation hearings receive statutory priority. The statute generally contemplates a temporary hearing within 30 days and a nonjury trial within 90 days after the motion or notice requesting priority, absent good cause.

Our military relocation guide addresses PCS orders and section 61.13001. Additional Florida relocation analysis is available through our broader Florida relocation practice.

Domestic Violence, Civilian Injunctions, and Military Protective Orders

Domestic violence in a military family may involve two different protective systems: Florida civil injunctions and military protective orders.

Florida injunctions

Section 741.30 authorizes a qualifying petitioner to seek a Florida injunction for protection against domestic violence. Depending on the evidence and requested relief, the court may order no contact, exclusive use of a residence, temporary time-sharing restrictions, temporary support, surrender of firearms, and other protection.

Evidence may include:

• 911 recordings;

• Body-camera footage;

• Photographs;

• Medical records;

• Threatening texts or voicemails;

• Social-media communications;

• Witness testimony;

• Command or law-enforcement reports;

• Prior injunctions;

• Firearm evidence; and

• Statements by either party.

An injunction hearing can affect the divorce, housing, time-sharing, firearm possession, duty assignments, security clearance, and military career. Those consequences do not lower the burden of proof, but they make preparation essential.

Military protective orders

A commander may issue a Military Protective Order restricting an active-duty member’s contact, communication, access, or conduct. An MPO is a command order and is generally enforced within the military system and installation context. It is not a substitute for a Florida injunction that can be enforced by civilian authorities off installation.

A qualifying civilian protection order receives recognition on a military installation under federal law.

A party may need both forms of protection. The orders should be compared for conflicting exchange terms, communication exceptions, residence provisions, and child-related relief.

SCRA and protective proceedings

Military status does not create immunity from emergency protective relief. The court must still provide legally required notice and an opportunity to be heard, but the SCRA should not be used to defeat necessary protection. Remote appearance, appointed counsel, tailored scheduling, and prompt final hearings may protect both safety and due process.

See our page addressing domestic violence in military divorce.

Military Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

A carefully drafted agreement can address military retirement, SBP, TSP, disability risks, support, life insurance, taxes, and property accumulated across multiple jurisdictions. A poorly drafted agreement can create more litigation than it prevents.

Florida’s Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, section 61.079, Florida Statutes, requires a premarital agreement to be in writing and signed by both parties. Marriage supplies the consideration. The agreement may address property rights, disposition at divorce, spousal support, estate planning, life insurance, choice of law, and other lawful matters. It cannot adversely affect a child’s right to support.

A party challenging enforcement may assert involuntary execution, fraud, duress, coercion, overreaching, or statutory unconscionability combined with deficient financial disclosure or knowledge. Unconscionability is determined by the court.

Military-specific drafting issues

A military agreement should identify:

• Whether military retired pay is waived, divided, or offset;

• Whether the waiver covers only property division or also support;

• How the marital portion will be calculated;

• Whether the Frozen Benefit Rule applies;

• Whether the member must consent to pension jurisdiction;

• Whether SBP is required;

• The SBP base amount and premium allocation;

• Treatment of TSP balances and loans;

• Treatment of bonuses and continuation pay;

• Treatment of VA waiver, Chapter 61 retirement, CRDP, and CRSC;

• Life-insurance obligations;

• Health-insurance consequences;

• GI Bill expectations;

• Tax allocations;

• Choice of law; and

• Required federal implementation documents.

A generic waiver of “all retirement” may not resolve survivor benefits, disability-related reductions, support, or implementation. The agreement also cannot force DFAS, the VA, TSP, or TRICARE to do something federal law prohibits.

Postnuptial agreements are governed by related but distinct Florida contract and family-law principles. They should not be treated as premarital agreements signed a few years late. Financial disclosure, consideration, coercion, reconciliation, and existing marital rights require separate analysis.

See our guide to military prenuptial agreements.

Tax Issues in Florida Military Divorce

Military divorce combines federal tax rules with tax-free military compensation, retirement distributions, disability benefits, account transfers, home sales, and support.

Alimony and child support

For qualifying post-2018 divorce or separation instruments, alimony is generally not deductible by the payor and not included as taxable income by the recipient. Earlier instruments may remain subject to prior law unless a qualifying modification adopts the current treatment. Child support is not deductible by the paying parent or taxable income to the receiving parent.

Military retirement and disability

Military longevity retired pay and CRDP are generally taxable. VA disability compensation and CRSC are generally tax-free. Tax treatment does not determine whether a payment is income for Florida support purposes or divisible property under federal law.

TSP transfers

A properly processed former-spouse TSP payment may qualify for rollover treatment. Taking a cash distribution instead of a permitted rollover can produce immediate income-tax consequences. The settlement should allocate responsibility for obtaining tax advice and should not promise a result inconsistent with federal plan rules.

Joint tax liabilities

Divorce does not automatically release either spouse from a joint federal tax liability. Allocation of the debt in a Florida judgment controls rights between the spouses but does not necessarily bind the Internal Revenue Service. Innocent-spouse relief may be available in qualifying circumstances through Form 8857.

Military families should also examine combat-zone exclusions, state-of-legal-residence issues, moving expenses for qualifying active-duty PCS moves, dependency claims, sale of the marital home, retirement withholding, and tax consequences of disability elections. See our discussion of tax issues in Florida divorce.

Mediation and Military Divorce Settlement Strategy

Military divorce is often well suited for mediation because the parties can design detailed solutions that a court might not create after a limited trial. But mediation is dangerous when one party lacks the records needed to value the case.

Before meaningful settlement discussions, counsel should ordinarily determine:

• Jurisdiction over every disputed subject;

• Complete military and civilian income;

• The marital portion of each retirement benefit;

• Whether the Frozen Benefit Rule applies;

• The effect of VA waiver, CRDP, or CRSC;

• SBP cost and deadline;

• TSP balances and loans;

• TRICARE eligibility and replacement-insurance costs;

• The child’s home state;

• Deployment and PCS risks;

• Tax consequences;

• Outstanding debts and overpayments; and

• Whether experts are needed.

A settlement term sheet should not postpone all technical decisions to “a QDRO to be prepared later.” There may be no ERISA QDRO, and the unresolved details may determine the value of the bargain.

A military settlement should be implementation-ready

The agreement should specify:

• The legal basis for jurisdiction;

• The precise pension formula;

• Frozen-benefit variables;

• The payment method before and after DFAS acceptance;

• Required federal forms;

• Cooperation and document deadlines;

• Correction of rejected orders;

• Treatment of disability-related changes consistent with federal law;

• SBP election and deemed-election duties;

• TSP order terms;

• Health-care obligations;

• GI Bill provisions;

• Life-insurance requirements;

• Beneficiary changes;

• Tax allocations;

• Parenting provisions for deployment and PCS;

• Relocation procedures;

• Notice requirements;

• Enforcement;

• Attorney’s fees; and

• Which obligations survive incorporation into the judgment.

The best settlement language is not necessarily the longest. It is language that produces only one reasonable interpretation and can be implemented by the agencies involved.

See our guide to military divorce mediation.

Preparing a Florida Military Divorce for Trial

A military divorce trial is not won by presenting the court with every military document accumulated during discovery. It is won by connecting admissible evidence to the governing Florida and federal legal standards.

Build the case by issue

For each contested issue, counsel should identify:

1. The burden of proof;

2. The required statutory findings;

3. The disputed facts;

4. The admissible exhibits;

5. The necessary witnesses;

6. The anticipated objection;

7. The opposing theory;

8. The precise relief requested; and

9. The proposed judgment language.

A pension expert may be critical to retired-pay valuation but irrelevant to whether equal time-sharing is appropriate. A VA rating letter may establish payment but not inability to work. PCS orders may prove the assignment but not the child’s best interests. An LES may prove one month’s pay but not future income.

Credibility

Credibility disputes frequently involve:

• Whether a housing allowance is available income;

• Whether special pay will continue;

• Whether retirement is voluntary;

• Whether disability prevents employment;

• Whether deployment was disclosed promptly;

• Whether support was actually paid;

• Whether a PCS move is necessary for the child;

• Whether one parent will facilitate long-distance contact;

• Whether a spouse understood a pension agreement; and

• Whether missing records were withheld deliberately.

Contemporaneous records usually carry more weight than reconstructed explanations. Counsel should organize LESs, bank deposits, orders, messages, calendars, travel records, and payment histories into a timeline.

Required findings and proposed judgments

Many Florida family-law decisions require written findings. These include equitable distribution, alimony, child-support deviations, parenting decisions, attorney’s fees, and other relief. A proposed judgment should supply the court with accurate findings tied to admitted evidence without overstating the record.

A military retired-pay order must also contain the technical information required for federal processing. A general Florida judgment followed months later by an improvised DFAS order creates unnecessary risk.

Appellate Preservation

An appellate court reviews the record created below. It does not conduct a new trial, receive new evidence, or calculate a better pension formula from documents that were never admitted.

Make a timely and specific objection

A party should object when evidence is offered, identify the legal ground, obtain a ruling, and renew the issue when required. A general objection may not preserve a specific authentication, hearsay, privilege, jurisdiction, or federal-preemption argument.

The same principle applies to requested relief. A party should state what the court is being asked to do and why the law authorizes it. Silence followed by a postjudgment objection may be too late.

Move for rehearing when required

Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.530 generally requires a motion for rehearing to be served within 15 days. The current rule also makes rehearing necessary to preserve a challenge to a final judgment’s failure to make statutorily required findings.

The motion should identify the exact omitted finding, legal requirement, and record evidence. It should not merely state that the judgment is unfair.

Preserve an adequate record

A court reporter is often essential for contested temporary hearings, trials, and significant postjudgment proceedings. Under Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 377 So. 2d 1150 (Fla. 1979), an appellate court generally cannot resolve fact-dependent error without an adequate record of the proceedings. Florida appellate courts continue to apply that principle.

Observe the appeal deadline

A notice of appeal from a final judgment generally must be filed within 30 days after rendition. Certain timely authorized motions suspend rendition, but an unauthorized or untimely filing may not. The deadline is jurisdictional and should be calculated from the actual docket and governing appellate rules.

Federal-preemption and contract-interpretation issues may receive less deferential review than factual findings, while parenting and equitable decisions often involve discretion. The trial strategy should account for the applicable appellate standard before the evidence closes.

Post-Judgment Enforcement and Modification

Entry of the final judgment does not always end a military divorce. DFAS processing, PCS moves, retirement, disability elections, support changes, deployment, and noncompliance can create later litigation.

DFAS rejection

DFAS may reject an order because it lacks required information, uses an unworkable formula, fails to establish federal jurisdiction, or conflicts with agency requirements. Rejection does not give the parties permission to invent a new bargain.

The proper response is to determine whether the defect can be corrected through an implementing or clarifying order without changing substantive property rights. A court may enforce and implement an existing award; it ordinarily may not use “clarification” to redistribute property after the judgment becomes final.

Rushing illustrates the difference. The later order had to implement the original agreement as written, not replace its frozen pension terms with a more valuable award based on the member’s post-divorce career.

Support enforcement

Child support and alimony may be enforced through income withholding, contempt when legally appropriate, judgment remedies, UIFSA procedures, and qualifying federal garnishment. The 10/10 rule does not prevent DFAS processing of qualifying support withholding.

Voluntary allotments should be reconciled carefully. A payment history must distinguish child support, alimony, pension payments, reimbursements, and gifts. A servicemember should use traceable payment methods and accurate descriptions.

Modification

Child support, qualifying alimony, and parenting arrangements may be modified when the governing statutory standard is met. Military events that may support a petition include:

• Deployment;

• PCS relocation;

• Retirement;

• Separation from service;

• Promotion or demotion;

• Loss or acquisition of special pay;

• Disability;

• Change in civilian employment;

• Change in the parenting schedule;

• Loss of health coverage; and

• A child’s changed needs.

The event itself does not modify the order. A party who waits may accumulate obligations that cannot be retroactively erased.

Interstate enforcement

When the parties have moved, the enforcing court must determine whether the UCCJEA or UIFSA governs, whether the foreign order must be registered, and whether Florida has authority only to enforce or also to modify.

Attorney’s Fees, Costs, and Sanctions

Section 61.16 permits a Florida court to award reasonable attorney’s fees after considering the parties’ financial resources. The purpose is to provide both parties a similar ability to secure competent counsel, not automatically to reward the prevailing party.

In Rosen v. Rosen, 696 So. 2d 697 (Fla. 1997), the Florida Supreme Court held that financial resources remain central, while the court may also consider the scope and history of the litigation, duration, merits, and whether litigation was pursued or maintained primarily to harass.

Military-divorce conduct that may increase fees includes:

• Concealing LESs, orders, retirement records, or VA documents;

• Refusing to sign federal implementation forms;

• Repeatedly submitting defective pension orders;

• Ignoring mandatory disclosure;

• Frivolously asserting or opposing jurisdiction;

• Misusing the SCRA for delay;

• Violating relocation requirements;

• Failing to provide deployment notice;

• Destroying electronic evidence;

• Disobeying discovery orders; and

• Taking a pension position contrary to an unambiguous agreement.

Section 57.105 separately authorizes sanctions for unsupported claims or defenses and contains a 21-day safe-harbor procedure for a motion served on the opposing party. It is not a substitute for section 61.16, and strict procedural compliance matters.

Common Military Divorce Mistakes

Confusing the 10/10 rule with pension entitlement

A marriage does not need to satisfy 10/10 before a Florida court can award a marital share. The rule concerns direct DFAS property payments.

Assuming Florida can decide every issue because one spouse lives here

Divorce, child custody, support, and military retired-pay division each have distinct jurisdictional requirements.

Calculating support from tax returns or LES net pay alone

Tax returns may omit tax-free military compensation. LES net pay includes deductions that Florida law may not recognize.

Using a generic pension paragraph

A percentage without the correct denominator, frozen-benefit variables, jurisdiction findings, and implementation terms can be nearly meaningless.

Dividing the pension without addressing death

Retired pay ends at death. SBP requires a separate election and a federal deadline.

Treating VA disability as divisible property

Mansell and Howell limit state property remedies. Support presents a different question.

Assuming PCS orders permit relocation

The servicemember may be required to move. The child cannot necessarily move without compliance with section 61.13001.

Waiting to address health insurance

TRICARE can end at divorce. CHCBP and FSGLI conversion deadlines begin quickly.

Assuming a family-care plan controls the Florida court

It may be relevant evidence, but it is not a substitute for a parenting plan or deployment order.

Relying on an informal payment history

Cash, shared-account withdrawals, groceries, and discretionary purchases may not receive the credit a party expects.

Failing to change beneficiaries

TSP, SGLI, private insurance, retirement plans, and estate documents require separate review.

Settling before obtaining records

A pension percentage, disability offset, or support amount cannot be evaluated reliably without the underlying pay and benefit documents.

Missing rehearing or appeal deadlines

A correct legal position may become useless when it is not preserved or timely presented.

Circumstances Requiring Immediate Legal Attention

A military divorce attorney should be contacted promptly when:

• A petition, subpoena, motion, or hearing notice has been served;

• The opposing party seeks a default against a servicemember;

• Deployment or PCS orders have been issued;

• A parent proposes moving a child 50 miles or more;

• The 20-day relocation-objection period is running;

• The member is approaching retirement;

• DFAS rejected a retired-pay order;

• A former-spouse SBP election has not been confirmed;

• The one-year SBP deadline may be running;

• TRICARE coverage has ended or is about to end;

• The CHCBP or FSGLI conversion period is running;

• The member is considering VA waiver or CRSC;

• A temporary support or time-sharing hearing is scheduled;

• Domestic violence or a protective order is involved;

• A child has been taken to another state;

• A support order from another state must be enforced or modified;

• Military pay has changed substantially;

• A final judgment omitted required findings;

• A motion for rehearing may be necessary; or

• The 30-day appellate period may be running.

Questions Experienced Military Divorce Counsel Investigates

Before recommending a strategy, counsel should ask:

• Where is each spouse domiciled?

• Why is the servicemember physically present in Florida?

• Has either spouse satisfied Florida’s six-month residency requirement?

• Where has each child lived during the last five years?

• Which state issued the current parenting or support orders?

• Is another case pending?

• Has either party consented to Florida pension jurisdiction?

• When did military service begin?

• When did the marriage begin and end?

• How much service overlapped the marriage?

• Is the member active duty, Guard, Reserve, retired, or medically retired?

• Which retirement system applies?

• Does the Frozen Benefit Rule apply?

• Is the 10/10 direct-payment requirement satisfied?

• What do the LESs, RASs, bank deposits, and tax records show?

• Are BAH, BAS, OHA, COLA, special pays, or bonuses involved?

• Does the member receive VA compensation, CRDP, or CRSC?

• Has either party applied for disability or retirement?

• What TSP accounts and loans exist?

• Is SBP available, requested, or already elected?

• Will the spouse qualify under 20/20/20 or 20/20/15?

• When will TRICARE end?

• Are GI Bill benefits transferred?

• What beneficiary designations remain in place?

• Are PCS or deployment orders anticipated?

• Is there a valid family-care plan?

• Has relocation notice been given?

• Is domestic violence alleged?

• What temporary relief is needed?

• What evidence must be preserved?

• Which experts are necessary?

• What federal implementation documents will be required?

• What deadlines are already running?

Florida Military Divorce Questions and Answers

Is military divorce governed by federal law or Florida law?

Both. Florida law governs dissolution, equitable distribution, time-sharing, child support, alimony, attorney’s fees, and state-court procedure. Federal law controls important questions involving the SCRA, military retired pay, VA disability, SBP, TSP, TRICARE, GI Bill benefits, and federal agency administration.

The court must first determine what Florida law would otherwise permit and then identify any federal restriction, preemption, jurisdictional requirement, or implementation rule.

Can I file for divorce in Florida if I am stationed here?

Possibly. Physical presence due to military orders does not automatically establish Florida residency or domicile. At least one spouse must satisfy Florida’s six-month residency requirement. Military retired-pay jurisdiction requires a separate federal analysis when the member’s only Florida connection is an assignment.

Can Florida divorce us but refuse to divide the military pension?

Yes. Florida may have jurisdiction over marital status while lacking jurisdiction under 10 U.S.C. § 1408(c)(4) to divide the member’s military retired pay.

Does the servicemember have to consent to Florida jurisdiction?

Not for every issue. Florida may have dissolution, child, or support jurisdiction through other laws. Consent is one of three federal bases for retired-pay jurisdiction under the USFSPA. Residence not caused by assignment or domicile can also satisfy the federal statute.

Does deployment automatically stop the divorce?

No. The SCRA may justify a stay when military duties materially affect the servicemember’s ability to appear, but the member must satisfy the statutory requirements. Courts may use remote hearings, scheduling accommodations, limited stays, and other measures.

Can the court enter a default against an active-duty servicemember?

Only after complying with the SCRA. The plaintiff must address military status, and appointment of counsel and a stay may be required. A default entered without compliance may be vulnerable to reopening.

Is BAH included in Florida child support?

Ordinarily, BAH is part of the economic resources considered in the child-support calculation. Florida’s statute includes allowances and in-kind or reimbursed payments that reduce living expenses. The amount and treatment should be proved through LESs, applicable rates, housing records, and actual circumstances.

Are BAS, OHA, and COLA income?

They may be. The court examines whether the payment is recurring and whether it provides spendable value or reduces ordinary living expenses. A genuine reimbursement for a mission expense may be treated differently from an allowance that pays personal housing or food costs.

Does tax-free military pay count as income?

Tax-free status does not exclude income from Florida support calculations. It can affect net-income computation and the person’s actual purchasing power.

Does equal time-sharing mean no child support?

No. Florida’s guidelines still compare the parents’ incomes and allocate qualifying expenses. A higher-earning parent may owe support under an equal schedule.

Can child support be withheld from military retired pay?

Yes, when the withholding order satisfies federal requirements. The 10/10 property-division rule does not prevent qualifying child-support or alimony withholding.

Does a military spouse automatically receive half the pension?

No. Florida determines the marital portion and equitable distribution. The marriage dates, service overlap, retirement system, agreement, federal limits, and evidence determine the award.

What does the 10/10 rule mean?

It means DFAS generally cannot make direct property-division payments unless at least 10 years of marriage overlapped at least 10 years of creditable service. It does not prevent a Florida court from awarding a pension share after a shorter marriage.

What is the Frozen Benefit Rule?

For qualifying orders entered after December 23, 2016, while the member is still serving, federal law generally limits division to the retirement benefit attributable to the member’s rank or grade and service as of the applicable court-order date, with later cost-of-living adjustments.

Can a former spouse receive postdivorce promotions?

Not automatically. Federal frozen-benefit law and Florida decisions such as Boyett restrict using postdivorce service and promotions to enlarge the former spouse’s property interest absent a controlling agreement or other lawful basis.

What happens if DFAS rejects the pension order?

The parties should identify the defect and obtain a lawful corrective or implementing order. The court may clarify the existing award but ordinarily cannot use the correction process to rewrite substantive property rights.

Does military retired pay continue after the retiree dies?

No. Retired pay generally ends at death. SBP or another valid survivor arrangement is required to provide continuing income.

Does a divorce judgment automatically create former-spouse SBP coverage?

No. A valid former-spouse election or deemed election must be completed under federal law. The one-year deadline is critical.

Who pays SBP premiums?

The agreement or judgment should allocate the economic cost. Because the premium is generally deducted before disposable retired pay is divided, both parties may already bear part of the cost when the former spouse receives a percentage.

Can the court divide VA disability compensation?

Not as marital property. Mansell prevents division of retired pay waived for VA compensation, and Howell prevents an indemnification remedy that merely restores the excluded share.

Can VA disability be considered for support?

Yes. Disability income may be considered in determining child support or alimony even though it cannot be divided as property. The order must address a genuine support obligation rather than disguise an impermissible property award.

What is the difference between CRDP and CRSC?

CRDP restores qualifying longevity retired pay and is generally taxable. CRSC compensates qualifying combat-related disability, is generally tax-free, and is not divisible disposable retired pay under the USFSPA.

Can a servicemember switch to CRSC after divorce?

A qualifying member may elect CRSC under federal rules. The election can reduce divisible retired pay and former-spouse payments. The availability of a state-law remedy is constrained by federal preemption and must be analyzed carefully.

Is a VA disability rating proof that a veteran cannot work?

No. A rating is relevant but does not necessarily establish vocational incapacity. Actual restrictions, medical evidence, work history, treatment, and vocational testimony may be necessary.

Is the TSP divided in the same order as military retired pay?

No. TSP is a separate federal defined-contribution plan requiring a separate Retirement Benefits Court Order that satisfies TSP regulations.

Does divorce automatically remove a former spouse as TSP beneficiary?

No. Beneficiary designations must be reviewed and changed through the federal system.

Will a former spouse keep TRICARE?

Only if the former spouse qualifies under federal law, such as the 20/20/20 or 20/20/15 rules. Otherwise, ordinary spouse eligibility generally ends upon divorce.

What does 20/20/20 mean?

It generally requires 20 years of creditable service, 20 years of marriage, and 20 years of overlap between the marriage and service.

What if the former spouse does not qualify for continuing TRICARE?

The former spouse may qualify to purchase temporary CHCBP coverage, ordinarily by electing it within 60 days after loss of eligibility. Other private or employer coverage should be investigated before the divorce is final.

Are children removed from TRICARE when the parents divorce?

Not merely because of the divorce. Their eligibility generally rests on their relationship to the servicemember, subject to federal requirements. DEERS should be updated promptly.

Can the court award Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to a spouse?

Federal law prohibits treating transferred GI Bill entitlement as marital property subject to division. An agreement may address lawful cooperation or education planning, but federal law controls eligibility and the servicemember’s authority over unused transferred benefits.

Does a PCS order allow a parent to move the child?

No. A PCS order directs the servicemember’s assignment. Moving the child may require a written relocation agreement or compliance with section 61.13001.

How long does the other parent have to object to relocation?

Generally 20 days after service of a legally sufficient relocation petition. The objection must comply with the statute.

Can deployment be used against a parent?

Past or possible deployment cannot, by itself, be used against the parent in determining the child’s best interests. The court may still consider the practical effect of an actual absence and the adequacy of the parent’s planning and communication.

Can a deployed parent give time-sharing to a grandparent or stepparent?

Florida’s Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act permits temporary nonparent caretaking authority in specified circumstances. It does not automatically displace the other legal parent or create permanent rights.

Is a military family-care plan binding on the Florida court?

No. It may be relevant evidence, but the Florida parenting plan and court orders control the parents’ legal rights.

Can a military protective order replace a Florida injunction?

No. An MPO is a military command order. A Florida injunction provides civilian judicial protection and enforcement. Depending on the facts, both may be appropriate.

Can a prenuptial agreement waive military retired pay?

A valid Florida premarital agreement may waive or allocate marital property rights, including military retirement, but the language must be clear and federal jurisdiction and administration still control. Child support cannot be adversely affected.

Can JAG represent me in a Florida divorce?

Military legal-assistance attorneys can provide valuable general advice, documents, and referrals, but they ordinarily do not serve as litigation counsel in a contested Florida circuit-court divorce. A case involving Florida trial proceedings, discovery, military retirement, relocation, or appeal generally requires qualified civilian counsel.

Is mediation appropriate in a military divorce?

Often, but only after enough disclosure exists to value the claims. Mediation cannot cure missing jurisdiction, unknowable retirement terms, or an agreement that federal agencies cannot administer.

What records should I gather first?

Begin with LESs, orders, tax returns, bank statements, TSP statements, retirement and Reserve records, VA and disability documents, SBP elections, DEERS and TRICARE records, insurance designations, support-payment proof, existing court orders, and communications concerning deployment or relocation.

A broader collection of common questions appears in our military divorce FAQ.

Florida Military Divorce Representation

Florida military divorce requires more than familiarity with one federal statute or one DFAS form. The lawyer must understand Florida family law, trial evidence, financial analysis, jurisdiction, settlement drafting, federal preemption, and appellate preservation.

Richard J. Mockler is a former United States Marine with an LL.M. in Taxation and experience litigating military-retirement issues at the trial and appellate levels. He represented the appellant in Rushing v. Rushing, which required the Sixth District Court of Appeal to interpret and enforce the technical retired-pay terms of a marital settlement agreement. Angela Leiner handles complex Florida family-law litigation involving financial disputes, parenting issues, evidence, and trial strategy.

Mockler Leiner Law, P.A. represents military members, spouses, retirees, veterans, and former spouses in Florida military divorce and post-judgment litigation. The firm’s Tampa military practice includes matters involving MacDill Air Force Base, while its military-divorce work addresses Florida and federal issues that arise statewide.

For Florida military divorce, call us at (813) 331-5699 or contact us online.