Military 20/20/20 status is an incredible benefit for qualifying spouses, because it entitles you to permanent military healthcare. For many women, health care is one of the most important issues in a divorce – in no large part because, for non-20/20/20 spouses and literally any civilian, there is no way to qualify for permanent, lifetime...
Understanding Military 20/20/20 Entitlement
You’ve been married a long time – at least 20 years – and your partner is in the military. How do you know if you qualify as one of the elusive 20/20/20 spouses? Goodness knows you can’t ask your husband, a JAG attorney, or really anyone associated with the military! What is a 20/20/20 spouse?...
Sometimes I think that the military loves mystery. That has to be the reason for all those annoying acronyms, right? TSP, BAH, PCS, LES – is it just fun for them? And then, rather than trying to explain to someone who might not know what they’re talking about, they just mix in the acronyms to...
In all honesty, most attorneys in the Hampton Roads area have a pretty high degree of familiarity with military divorces. In fact, in many ways, military divorces aren’t really all that different from regular, ‘civilian’ divorces. Divorce is never ‘one size fits all’, whether military or not, but there are some general basics that...
We talked Monday about a question we get fairly frequently: Should I report my husband’s adultery to his military command? The answer to Monday’s question is fairly straightforward. In almost every single case, I’d say absolutely not. There’s too much risk to you (from loss of potential child and spousal support to military health insurance,...
All too often, the answers that I give to the questions that I’m asked are complicated and multifaceted. A question that a woman describes to me as “simple” ends up being anything but simple, after I’ve covered all the bases and explained all the possible advantages, disadvantages, things to be aware of, and vagaries of...
There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to dealing with the military, and specifically with military divorce. As a non-military member myself, I totally understand. With all the abbreviations and various oddities of military life (that military service members seem to think makes perfect sense), it can be hard to figure out what’s...