Military 10-Year Rule

One of the most callous lawyer tricks attempted by an opposing counsel was a letter sent to a servicemember's wife stating, "As you know, the government will not pay you any part of your husband's retirement pension because you have not been married to him for 10 years."
The letter was a purposeful misinformation effort to make the wife believe that she was not entitled to any of his retirement pay.
Here are the facts:
1) State law determines what, if any, portion of your husband's retirement pension you are entitled to receive;
2) Whether you have been married 2 years or 30 years, you have a right to ask for your marital share of his military pension.
Here is where the 10-year rule applies:
The government has a rule that it does not have to pay you "directly" your marital share of the pension unless you have been married to your husband for more than 10 years of his military career. Therefore, if you were married to him for 8 years of his military career, and the court awards you your marital share of his retirement, the payment will come from your husband - and not "directly" from the government.
So - what can you do in that case to protect yourself? You can also seek a voluntary allotment - or, even better, a voluntary irrecoverable allotment from your husband, but you do not have the right to direct pay from the government unless you pass the 10-year marriage threshhold of military marriage.

Charles R. Hofheimer View lawyer's profile

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