When a divorce involves a member of the military, divorce lawyers and divorcing spouses are required to follow a process that is slightly different than that of a standard civilian divorce.
Although few, these differences can make getting a military divorce more complex, especially if both spouses are military members or one spouse is actively deployed.
A divorce help lawyer experienced with military divorces can ensure that filing spouses go about the process the right way and avoid problems that can delay the final judgment.
- Serving Military Members With Divorce Papers - Unlike standard divorce cases where divorce papers can be served by email or other ways in Texas, papers must be served to military members in person only, even if they are deployed. Considering the challenge of serving a deployed military member, divorce attorneys might recommend that filing spouses wait until after deployment to file.
- Response Time When Served - Based on the SMRA or Service Members Relief Act, active-duty service members who are served with divorce papers are able to extend their response period up to 90 days. If they are deployed or will soon be deployed, divorce help attorneys can also help their active-duty clients delay any court hearings until after deployment, pushing the whole process back.
- State of Jurisdiction - Military members and their divorce lawyers can file for divorce within the state of Texas if the military member is stationed in or deployed from Texas, regardless of where their home of record.
- Extra Child Custody Provisions - As part of a military divorce in Texas, active duty spouses must make secondary provisions for custody and conservatorship if deployment could become a factor.
- Military Retirement Benefits - Military retirement benefits may not qualify as part of the community property that is usually divided up in a civilian divorce. Since this can be a complicated part of the military divorce process, spouses involved in one should seek the assistance of an experienced military divorce attorney who can help them through this process.
Although military divorces do follow the same basic process as any other one, divorce help lawyers stress the importance of filing with experienced help that can aid in the navigation of various family law rule differences.
Civilian spouses or even those who are military members themselves and are looking to divorce their military spouse can learn how to proceed most easily through their divorce by discussing it first with an experienced divorce help attorney.