Arranging fair and equitable property distribution in a military or civil service divorce often requires creative problem-solving. At Beller Law, PL, we have experience finding and negotiating solutions fair to both spouses in military or civil service divorces. Our staff have been in this business for over 25 years, allowing us to build a steady knowledge base about what works and what does not and how to tailor our case strategies to each client.
Property Division in Florida Divorces
Florida is an equitable division state, meaning that when a couple divorces, all their marital assets must be divided equitably. Equity does not require an exact 50/50 split but rather fairness to both parties.
Marital Property vs. Nonmarital Property
Assets and liabilities you own are either marital or nonmarital property. Nonmarital property generally includes assets or liabilities you acquired before your marriage or through inheritance. Property and debts acquired after you and your spouse begin the divorce process are also typically nonmarital. Nonmarital property is not generally split in a divorce proceeding.
Marital property includes assets and liabilities obtained by either spouse during the marriage, and does not depend on how the asset is titled. Marital property may also include improvements made by either spouse to nonmarital property owned by either spouse. It is marital property that must be equitably divided between the spouses.
Equitable Property Division and Alimony
By law, a court dividing property in a Florida divorce considers several factors to determine whether a split is equitable based on the actual circumstances of the spouses, which is usually determined before any consideration of alimony. Several important factors are considered as part of division of assets and alimony, including each spouse’s:
- Financial contributions,
- Homemaking,
- Provision of childcare,
- Contributions to the other spouse’s education,
- Contributions to the other spouse’s career, and
- Improvements to marital and nonmarital property.
In addition to these factors, the court will likely consider other aspects of each spouse’s contribution, including:
- Each spouse’s financial circumstances,
- The length of the marriage,
- Any interruptions to one spouse’s career or education during the marriage,
- The value of assets being free and clear of claims by the other spouse,
- Whether one spouse should retain the marital home, and
- Any intentional harm either spouse has caused to marital assets.
Courts can also consider any other factors that bear on each spouse’s contributions to the household and ability to be financially independent post-divorce.
Dividing Pensions in Divorce
Only the portion of the pension you earned while married qualifies as marital property. For example, say you worked for your employer for 25 total years. For the first five years, you were unmarried. If you were married for the other 20 years, then 20 of your 25 years of earning a pension would be marital property, and more specifically, what you earned in that pension for the most recent 20 years. Because pensions may take time to vest, calculating an equitable distribution of your marital pension assets is often complex, even absent special complications.
Pensions in Civil Service Divorces
Many government positions are considered part of the civil service. The federal government offers civil service jobs overseen by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), while Florida offers public service jobs that may have benefits through the Florida Retirement System.. State and federal jobs offer different retirement benefits with different effects on how pensions may be divided in a divorce.
Federal Civil Service
If you or your spouse work for the federal civil service, your pension can be treated as marital property and divided by a state court. You must submit a separate state court order to OPM to receive those benefits.
Florida Civil Service
Florida civil service jobs are generally a part of the Florida Retirement System (FRS). Under the FRS, public employees’ and officers’ benefits cannot be assigned to another person, executed on, or attached to by any legal process. In layperson’s terms, public employee pensions are not divisible. This may also be the case for county-specific civil service jobs such as law enforcement and firefighter pensions.
However, pensions are still part of marital property that must be equitably divided. Navigating pension division challenges can be particularly difficult when part or all of one spouse’s pension is earned through the FRS or another government pension plan. Often, dividing property equitably may result in the spouse who keeps the pension giving up other property in exchange, in order to equitably divide the marital assets or overall retirement benefits.
Pensions in Military Divorces
The military divorce pension division has its own complications. Like federal civil service retirement benefits, the former spouse of a servicemember can receive a portion of the servicemember’s pension. Before any former spouse can receive the benefits, they must obtain a state court order declaring they are entitled to them. How to enforce the order varies.
Specifically, dividing military pensions in divorce requires consideration of the length of the marriage and the military service. If one spouse served for at least ten years overlapping with your marriage, the non-servicemember spouse can receive payments directly from the federal Defense Finance Accounting Service (DFAS). The state would administer benefit payments if the marriage or the service period did not last or overlap for at least ten years. Additionally, spouses with at least 20 years of overlap between service and marriage are entitled to lifetime military benefits regardless of divorce.
Combined Military and Civil Service Divorces
When servicemembers leave military service to work federal civil service jobs, they can roll their military retirement pay into their civil service retirement. Doing so can complicate what the other spouse is entitled to, especially if the other spouse would have qualified for an overlapping provision but for the rollover.
Legal Assistance for Civil Service and Military Divorce Pension Division
Distributing assets and liabilities equitably in divorce is already complicated enough. When one spouse earns a military pension, a civil service pension, or a combined military and civil service pension, negotiating pension division and enforcement becomes all the more complicated. Let Beller Law, PL, help you navigate this complex field with our education-first approach and 25 years of experience to guide us. Reach out today if you need a lawyer to assist with your military pension or civil service pension in a divorce settlement.