The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) is a survivor annuity policy offered by the military. It is designed to protect your right to receive your husband’s retirement in the event that he dies. These days, the average life expectancy of an American man is 75 years, and the average life expectancy of an American woman is...
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For some reason, a lot of women think that, unless they’ve been married to their husband for ten years or more, they don’t have a right to share in the military retirement. That is absolutely not true. For every military marriage, for any duration, the wife earns a portion of the retirement. That portion may...
The largest, most important asset for many military families is the military retirement. Because of this fact, many husbands are eager to try to convince their wives that they have no share in the military retirement, or to try to encourage them to take some other asset in lieu of their share of the retirement....
Divorce can be especially tricky if you and your husband live in base housing. After you separate, you could be evicted. Military policy is that, once the military member has left the premises and notified the housing office, you will have thirty days to vacate the premises. Of course, he doesn’t have to actually officially...
Healthcare after divorce is a major issue for many Virginia women. Since husbands are traditionally the primary breadwinners, most families are insured under his health insurance policies. In military families, the children will stay on the military service member’s insurance policy after divorce, but because health insurance benefits can only extend to family members, yours...
Even if you’re an experienced military wife, there may be things about the military that you don’t know and, if you don’t ask, could ultimately hurt you in your divorce. If you’re hoping to get information from a JAG attorney (or, even worse, his attorney) you could find yourself receiving less than you deserve in...
There are a lot of people who live in the Hampton Roads area because the military brought them here, and for no other reason. For many area women, they have followed their husbands here because it was where he was stationed, but their families, job experience, and other connections are elsewhere. When the marriage fails,...
In my blog yesterday, I wrote about what happens when dad wants to delegate his visitation during deployment to his new wife. This can be a very upsetting thing for moms to have to deal with, especially because it’s typically completely unexpected. There are a lot of competing emotions when a relationship breaks down, and...