Florida Military Divorce Calculator

Under the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (10 U.S.C. § 1408), Florida courts may divide up to 50% of a servicemember's disposable military retired pay as marital property. Only the portion of retirement earned during the marriage is divisible under Florida's equitable distribution law (Section 61.075). The court uses either the hypothetical method (frozen benefit at divorce date) or the time rule (actual retirement benefit with coverture fraction) to calculate the marital share.

The 10/10 rule is a DFAS payment requirement, not a division requirement. For the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to send military retirement payments directly to a former spouse, the marriage must have lasted at least 10 years, overlapping 10 years of creditable military service. If your marriage has less than 10 years of overlap, Florida courts may still award you a share of military retirement, but the servicemember must pay you directly rather than through DFAS garnishment.

Unremarried former spouses qualify for lifetime TRICARE coverage under the 20/20/20 rule: 20 years of marriage, 20 years of military service, and 20 years of overlap between the two. Former spouses meeting 20/20/15 (15 years of overlap) receive only one year of transitional TRICARE coverage. If you don't qualify for either, you may purchase up to 36 months of coverage through the Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP) by applying within 60 days of your divorce.

No. Under the U.S. Supreme Court's Mansell decision and federal law, VA disability compensation is not divisible as marital property. When a retiree waives retired pay to receive VA disability, the former spouse's share decreases accordingly. However, servicemembers with 50% or higher VA disability ratings who receive Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) may have that restored retirement pay divided—though Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) remains non-divisible.

Under Florida Statute § 61.021, at least one spouse must reside in Florida for six months before filing. Military members stationed outside Florida may still file here if they maintain Florida as their legal domicile (state of legal residence on their LES) and intend to return after service. A civilian spouse living in Florida can file against a servicemember stationed elsewhere, and vice versa.

Florida Statute § 61.30 includes Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) in gross income for child support calculations, even though BAH is non-taxable. Courts also include Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS), cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), and other military allowances. Your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) documents these amounts. The one exception: if a servicemember lives in on-base housing instead of receiving BAH, no housing allowance is counted.

The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) provides a monthly annuity to a designated beneficiary if the military retiree dies. In divorce, Florida courts often order servicemembers to designate the former spouse as SBP beneficiary to protect the ex-spouse's retirement share. Critical deadline: the former spouse must file DD Form 2656-10 with DFAS within one year of the divorce decree to lock in coverage, or SBP eligibility may be permanently lost.

Yes. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. § 3932), an active-duty servicemember may request a mandatory 90-day stay if military duties materially affect their ability to appear in court. The request must include documentation from the servicemember's commanding officer confirming military necessity and unavailability of leave. After the initial 90 days, additional stays are discretionary and require renewed proof that service duties continue to prevent participation.