Do you think military spouses deserve half of their husband/wife retirement?

Question

I think its unfair.

Answer 1

NO.

One puts life on line, works long hours for low pay, may get killed on duty. Spouse sits at home, no risk to life. Maybe a spouses contribution to the family is equal in a civilian job, but no way is it equal to the crap the veterans have to go through.

At most, the spouse should get only 25% and that should be based upon the number of years they were married while the one was on duty. IE: If married during 10 years of service time, the spouse would get 12.5% of the retirement.

(I do not have that problem. My spouse gets a retirement based upon HER 20 years of service time and I get a retirement based upon MY 29 years of service time. Perhaps that is the best arrangement to have with your spouse. You BOTH serve your nation.

Answer 2

I see both sides of this issue. However; I think that since you have to be married for ten years and then divorce in order to collect half the retirement pay, then it's fair. Ten years is above the average number of years for a divorce to occur; so it shows you've put effort into making the relationship work. A civilian spouse can collect on their spouses retirement pay. Yes, the one in the Military might be the one doing the field problems and the one deployed, etc., etc. but they signed on the dotted line and chose to become a Military member, so I would assume they expected those things to occur. The spouse of that Soldier is living under the Military thumb as well, only without having signed a contract. A lot of wives have no idea what they're getting into when they marry a Military member. It's a complete shock to some of them; especially if they have never met anyone in the Military before. They move....often, because of their spouses career. Raising of children is primarily done by them alone. There is a lot of discrimination toward Military spouses in the civilian work force. A lot of companies avoid hiring them because they move so often; therefore building a solid career in which to support themselves and their children (if they have them) if a divorce comes about is extremely hard to achieve. I know a lot of women who have a college education but have difficulties building a good career because of their spouses choice to serve in the Military. Of course if they asked the spouse to get out so they could have more stability and work on building a career for themselves then there would be those who saw that person as "selfish" for asking their spouse to give up the Military and would be pegged as an "unsupportive wife". So, if she chooses to stay and be supportive and he decides when he comes home to leave her for the new female Soldier he met while deployed she's left with nothing. She now has to figure out how to care for their children on a job on Post that doesn't begin to cover the bills, find a place to live (because he of course asked her to leave the house and he doesn't want the kids, either), find new child care, etc. (I know someone in this situation) Is it fair to punish her when she didn't see this coming from a mile away? She was doing everything right and he decided to screw her and their kids over. Either way the spouse looses, so I don't see it as a horrible injustice to the Military member to compensate the spouse that put up with just as much crap for at least ten years.

Answer 3

That's a tough one. As a military spouse, I do know that I have put in as much effort and sacrficed as much as my active duty spouse, albeit in a different way, while he served. I also know the military life had a direct impact on how much I could earn/progress/accomplish on a professional level. Most military spouses are limited not only in the ability to work outside the home, but for those who do it often means part time jobs or, if working in a field that travels well, always being the "new person" and generally not having enough time to ever really build senority or tenure. Becasue of that, I do feel military spouses are entitled to a share of retirement benefits if the marriage does not last. I do not feel it should be a flat percentage, but a sliding scale based on length of marriage, with five years of marriage being the minimum needed to claim it. I also believe that the amount the percentage is worked from should be determined by the rank the military member was at when the divorce occured, not the rank of the member when they retire. If a divorce occured while the husband was an E5 and he made it all the way to E8, I do not believe the ex is entitle to benefit from all the hard work the military member put in to reach that rank after she was no longer part of his military life.

Answer 4

If said spouse has stood by their husband/wife for the majority of their military career ABSOLOUTLY!
We go through hell much of the time - no respect from those in uniform (very little anyhow), keeping the home fires burning while they are overseas/away from home, caring for children, moving hither and yon on a moments notice, etc,etc,etc and doing it ALL on a very limited budget!

Many States are community property States anyhow so it's a moot point then.

I do what I do because I love him, but if he were to leave me for another woman then damn straight I want half or more! If the divorce is amicable or because of me that should be up to the judge to decide not people on here who've never walked a mile in my shoes/boots.

edit: I do serve - all the time. Without pay! How's more than 500 hours at the FRG strike you?! On top of homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, praying, managing the finances, keeping the cars running, drs appointments, etc, etc and keeping hubby cheered when he's away. How bout the fact we've been married almost 19yrs and he's only been home like 10? He's always been amazed at how much flak/crap I put up with too when he's not around/in uniform.

Truthfully though - hubby couldn't afford to leave me: what with alimony, child support for 4 kids, half his pay and half his retirement ....... ;)

Answer 5

AbsoBLOODYlutely not!

I'm sorry, I just don't buy that "the spouse suffered just as much" argument.

Once the spouse runs takes 20 years of orders, runs PT, and takes the military risks...then she has a retirement coming. Following a spouse around doesn't cut it, sorry. You fell in love with a military person, that's the deal.

One thing that blows me away is that if someone divorces as an E-5 and ends up retiring as an E-9, the ex gets a percentage of E-9 retirement! EXCUSE ME? You only "helped" (if that) your spouse make E-5...why would you have a claim on any pay rate higher than that at time of divorce?

Another mindblower: A military member can come back from Iraq, go home, find their spouse canoodling with the mailman in the marital bed...and that spouse isn't precluded from getting a cut of the retirement! If the spouse MARRIES the mailman, the retiree still gets the privilege of giving a chunk of his retirement to help support his ex wife and the guy who was diddling her. Talk about adding insult to injury.

P.S. I ironed my own uniforms.

P.P.S. My wife ironed HER own uniforms. Unlike some people, I have a wife...not a servant.

Answer 6

In that the people involved must be married at least ten years......and much of the work that allowed the spouse to be successful in the military was done / supported by their significant other......that significant other deserves their share of the benefits....maybe not a full 50% but a fair share

I will support the option to contest the award base on the grounds of the divorce.....a spouse that is found guilty of destroying the marriage should not benefit from that misconduct.

Answer 7

It depends on the curcumstances. If she shared the years of hardship-sure. If she ran around on him-no. Granted its a two way street and faithfulness should be the higher ground for both. Last year, they began the process to x out the wife from the pension should a couple get divorced. Apparently, its sailing through legislation as we speak and its suppose to go into effect next year.

Answer 8

If they've been married for the majority of his career, then yes. A spouse earns that money by supporting him, running his houshold, raising his children, making sacrafices in her own career and schooling in order to follow him around the world, being left behind and holding things together, helping him to study, making decisions to push his career forward.

Answer 9

Nope. They did not work their butts off or take orders. In some way a spouse helps alot so herhusband should share his retirement. but desrve half maybe not. He wears or wore the rank not the spouse

Answer 10

No, I don't think we deserve any of it. My husband does all the work, not me. I mean, I take care of a lot but that's what a wife is supposed to do. I knew what I was getting into when I married him. I don't compare the hardships. You can't. BTW, my grandmother got half my grandpa's and they were divorced. So wrong!!!