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Common complications seen in military divorces

On Behalf of | Nov 17, 2022 | Family and Divorce Law

If you are in the Military and have decided to divorce or have been served a complaint for divorce then it is in your best interest to hire an attorney to help you work through the complexities of divorce.

Divorce in Hawaii involved 4 areas: The divorce itself, Child Custody, Retirement, Debt and Asset distribution.  Given the complexities and issues involved in divorces that involve military personnel and their family members, it is in your best interest to hire an attorney to   represent you. Divorce can be by agreement and uncontested or contested and emotionally difficult for all the parties.  If you have a contested divorce that involves: children, retirement, debt, and assets, you will benefit from having a strong legal advocate on your side. If you’d like to learn more about what that kind of advocacy looks like, then please consider reaching out to the Law Office of Carmen Di Amore-Siah and associates. We have many years of experience representing military personnel and their family members.

Common problems seen in a military divorce

  • Complex laws: Military divorces are challenging. The state where the divorce is adjudicated and the state where the children reside, are issues. With respect to Retirement issues, the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA) is a significant issue in military divorces.  The USFSPA allows the state to consider military retirement pay as property rather than income.
  • Enforcement of spousal support and child custody orders: If a military spouse does not pay ordered spousal or child support then an Attorney can file an order to enforce any prior orders that are not complied with in the relevant jurisdiction. An attorney can modify, collect back spousal and child support and or get new orders, revised orders amended and enforced.
  • Visitation issues: Child custody issues can be complicated when a parent is in the military. However, an attorney can intervene to change, modify and or enforce an existing order, and analyze jurisdiction issues, and determine the appropriate forum to do this with respect to child visitation, legal and physical custody issues.
  • Physical and legal custody: If a service member has physical custody of a child, then he or she may be able to dictate with whom the child stays while the parent is deployed. An attorney can modify, change, enforce or restrict changes in physical and legally custody.