Military Divorce

Are Military Divorces different to Civilian Divorces?

Military Divorces are very similar to civilian divorces in terms of the process that needs to be followed to obtain a divorce. However, many factors can make Military divorces become complicated these are:

Housing and child arrangements

Where one of you is posted overseas, the divorce or separation may mean that the children may not be able to continue residing in service accommodation or even in the same country as the serving parent.

School fees

If the children go to boarding school either in the UK or abroad, their school fees will need to be considered during child maintenance discussions.

Military pensions

Military pensions can be considered as a financial resource during divorce proceedings. There are many types of pensions available for military personnel, including:

• Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) 15 - for personnel in service on or after 1 April 2015
• AFPS 05 - for personnel in service between 6 April 2005 and 1 April 2015
• AFPS 75 - for personnel in service between 1 April 1975 and 6 April 2005
• Full Time Reserve Forces Pension Scheme (FTRSPS) 97
• Reserve Forces Pension Scheme (RFPS) 05
• War disablement pensions

Military pensions are distinctive because you do not have to make contributions. Your pension will be earned depending on factors like your length of service, rank and how old you were when you joined the forces.

Courts have several ways in which they can structure Financial Settlements in cases of military divorce.

These include:

• No settlement: Where both parties can have a clean break because they have similar pension arrangements.
• Pension Offsetting Order: This involves giving the non-serving partner other assets to "off-set" the value of the serving partner's pension. However, it is only possible if you own other assets which amount to the value of your pension.
• Pension Attachment Order: This gives the non-serving partner a right to a share of the serving spouse's pension when they start drawing their benefits. For many, this option is not the most attractive because it does not allow for a clean break between the parties and the serving partner will retain full control over the pension.
• Pension Sharing Order: Pension sharing involves a percentage of the value being transferred from the pension to the non-serving spouse. Typically, in military divorces, the length of the marriage will influence how the pension is split.

How long will my divorce take?

In the new No Fault Divorce legislation, the timeline for separation has been changed.

There will be a 20-week period of reflection from the start of proceedings to the granting of a conditional order. This is intended to give couples a chance to seek counselling services, reconcile their differences and/or consider financial and child arrangements post-separation.

After the conditional order is granted, there is an additional 6-week period before the final order

Therefore, the minimum amount of time for the divorce process to take place is 26 weeks, or roughly 6 months. However, the new legislation retains the previous rule that an application cannot be brought within the first year of marriage.

Why choose Westridge Legal?

Our team of highly skilled divorce lawyers can provide detailed advice on all aspects of armed forces divorce, including but not limited to:

• Advice on opposite-sex divorce, same-sex divorce, and civil partnership dissolution
• Advice for all current, reserve, and former members of the armed forces - including Army, Royal Navy, and RAF - and non-serving partners
• Military divorce child support and spousal maintenance
• Alternative Dispute Resolution, including family mediate and collaborative law
• Court Orders, including Child Arrangements Orders, Specific Issue Orders and Prohibited Steps Orders

Our highly experienced lawyers will guide and support you every step of the way to ensure that the best outcome is achieved with minimal disruption to your life.

If you wish to speak about your options directly with our specialist staff, please contact us on 0121 724 0302 to book a consultation today.