DIVORCE IN THE NAVY

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on April 17, 2010 at 9:13am

Sorry to hear about your continuing saga here....again I can't offer much help but would advise him to talk to Legal and invlove command...at least they should know what is going on and can prbably help point him in a direction to go and to whom he should talk.

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Permalink Reply by EMC (SS) on April 21, 2010 at 6:21am

Sir,
Your son's chain of command at his training command have handled this situation before (I know I currently work at one). Get in contact with Navy Legal and make sure that he is talking with his Advisor/LPO. He also needs to go to Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC). FFSC will help him with his financial issues. I highly recommend that he put a six month freeze on his credit, FFSC can help him do this and it is free. It will prevent his wife from being able to open any new lines of credit in his name. He should also pull his credit report and make a claim of identity theft for anything that he didn't open. Stop all credit cards that he has a joint account on and close his current banking plan and open new individual checking and saving accounts and have his pay check rerouted to the new accounts. If he currently owes on the car I would contact the creditors and inform them of what has happened and discuss options with them.
Navy Legal can assist in getting a divorce or potentially annulment of the marriage due to abandonment. If they can get the annulment done then she will never have to be present to make it binding and legal. This will all depend upon the State laws. The nice part as a military member is that any of the follow locations can be used to get the fastest and easiest results: where your son is stationed, where he was married and where his home of record is. Make sure that your son keeps records of everyone that he talks to including when (date/time) and who and keeps all paperwork given to him by anyone as this will pop up several more times throughout the course of his life. As sad and painful as this process is it unfortunately not uncommon. There are numerous trained and licensed who have experience in dealing with these issues ready to help.
I also recommend that he see a Chaplain or Counselor to discuss what is going on in his life as they are able to help him with advice and counsel to deal with what he is going through. Good luck in getting through this.
Fair winds and following seas,
Very Respectfully,
EMC (SS)

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Permalink Reply by Rose Davis on April 23, 2010 at 10:06am

I HAVE A FRIEND THAT IS GOING THROUGH THIS. HIS WIFE HAS FILED FOR DIVORCE IN THE CIVILIAN SECTOR IN CALIFORNIA, WHILE HE IS ON DEPLOYMENT OVERSEAS. HE DID NOT KNOW THAT SHE COULD DO THIS. DOES HE HAVE ANY RECOURSE?

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on April 23, 2010 at 10:21am

The Navy sees the marriage/divorce issue. The following is from Navy Times--

Study: Lure of benefits can lead to divorce

Bigger housing payouts encourage younger marriages
By William H. McMichael

bmcmichael@militarytimes.com

Higher rates of pay and benefits for married troops encourages ser­vice members to wed at a younger age than the general public — and lead to a “significantly greater” divorce rate for those who have served two years or more, two researchers conclude.

In a new study, economist Paul Hogan and social psychologist Rita Seifert suggest that while the military needs to be supportive of family life — more than half of all active-duty troops are married —

the Pentagon should not, in essence, encourage single troops to marry.

The authors focused on 23- to 25-year-olds, reasoning that these service members were old enough to have graduated from high school or college, marry, and sub­sequently divorce.

Previous research, the authors say, “has shown that retention of married service members is influ­enced by family support and satis­faction with the military.” “However, there does not seem to be evidence that married ser­vice members are more productive or of greater value to the military than single service members. The military does not need to encour­age single service members to marry. Other employer markets do not differentiate compensation and benefits by marital status.” Current policies may contribute to a divorce rate among service members that has been on the rise over the past decade.

Hogan and Seifert say a revised compensation policy would phase in family benefits, such as better housing, so that married troops receive more benefits the longer they serve.

Then, compensation and bene­fits could move toward a system that rewards performance rather than dependency status, they say. In this way, they argue, the mili­tary would both support families and encourage the best performers to stay in the service.

The authors’ conclusion drew a skeptical response from one mili­tary personnel expert.

“There’s an infinite number of rea­sons people get married and an infi­nite number of factors that differen­tiate military people’s lives and cir­cumstances from those of civilians. Attributing causality to any specific one is a very long stretch,” said retired Col. Steve Strobridge of the Military Officers Association of America, who once headed the Air Force’s compensation branch.

For instance, Strobridge said, more mature people may be drawn to the military, and more mature people might marry earli­er. The stress and responsibilities that military life places on rela­tively younger people might accel­erate the maturation process. Or the stresses themselves could drive some to seek stability in their private lives through mar­riage, he said.

The authors found that those 23- to 25-year-olds who have served at least two years on active duty are significantly more likely to be married, suggesting, based on their analysis of U.S. Census data, that the odds of ever having been married are three times greater if one had served on active duty compared with a similar civilian who had not served.

The same percentage held true for those who were high school graduates and nearly so for those with bachelor’s degrees, most of whom are officers.

The authors’ analysis of divorce probability suggests that, among those who have married, service members who have had at least two years of active duty are more likely to get divorced.

That finding, they said, “is consis­tent with the hypothesis that the compensation benefits in the mili­tary provide an incentive for earlier marriage than might otherwise be the case and, because of this, that the marriage might be more vul­nerable to dissolution.”

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on April 23, 2010 at 10:21am

Please be sure to read the post by EMC (SS) above............

Rose Davis said:

I HAVE A FRIEND THAT IS GOING THROUGH THIS. HIS WIFE HAS FILED FOR DIVORCE IN THE CIVILIAN SECTOR IN CALIFORNIA, WHILE HE IS ON DEPLOYMENT OVERSEAS. HE DID NOT KNOW THAT SHE COULD DO THIS. DOES HE HAVE ANY RECOURSE?

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on April 23, 2010 at 7:22pm

from a Navy Times (03/15/10) article:

Know your rights as a service member


By Karen Jowers

kjowers@militarytimes.com
Like all service members, Spc. Matthew Kleman is protected from civil court proceedings being conducted in his absence for official military duty — such as deployment — under the Service­members’ Civil Relief Act. The unusual twist in his case is that he never got to assert his SCRA rights because he didn’t know a divorce court proceeding in which he was named was underway. A “Waiver of Service” document bearing Kleman’s signature, which he says is forged, was filed in court. A signature affirms that he received a copy of the divorce petition, and that he agreed the case could be taken up without further notice to him. The document also states, “I enter my appearance in this case for all purposes.” That statement gave the court the go-ahead to make decisions without the pres­ence of Kleman or a lawyer rep­resenting him — essentially waiving his rights under the SCRA. A crucial aspect of his case is that his wife apparently did not inform the court that the couple has a son, who will turn 2 this month. As such, the issue of cus­tody is not addressed in the di­vorce papers. So what are Kleman’s rights? If the service member wants the divorce case reopened, procedures vary from state to state, said re­tired Army Col. Mark Sullivan, a retired judge advocate general who specializes in family law and is the author of the American Bar Associ­ation’s military divorce handbook.

Sullivan said that under the SCRA:

■ If a person has not made an appearance in a court proceeding

— or waived the right to that ap­pearance — it is the court’s re­sponsibility to determine if that person is a service member. If so, the court cannot enter a default judgment against the service member without appointing an attorney. A default judgment is any order, ruling or decree that is adverse to the service member’s interest.

■ Based on the request of the service member, or his attorney, or on the court’s own action, pro­ceedings must be postponed for at least 90 days if the court deter­mines there may be a defense that can’t be offered without the service member being present, or if counsel has been unable to contact the service member to determine if there is a such a defense.

■ If a judgment has been en­tered against a service member, a court must reopen the case if the member’s ability to offer a de­fense was materially affected by his military service.

Service members who leave the military may file such petitions up to 90 days after separation.

For service members who remain on active duty, applicable time limits vary from state to state, Sullivan said. □

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Permalink Reply by EMC (SS) on April 23, 2010 at 8:35pm

If he is still overseas when she has filed, then he can use Navy Legal to postpone proceedings until he returns for decisions on any support or alimony. In the meantime there is a Standard Navy percentage of his pay that she will be entitled to based upon how many dependents he has. This is covered under MILPERSMAN 1754-030 (if you google search this the whole instruction will come up for you). It basically states that until a court order states otherwise for support the spouse is entitled to 1/3 of the member's base pay and BAH (housing allowance), but nothing of his special pays. If he has 1 child then it is 1/2 base pay+BAH and if 2 or more children then 3/5 of Base pay+BAH.

The divorce generally requires a period of separation prior to it being finalized. Whether his time at sea counts toward this changes from state to state. I highly recommend that he get his own lawyer ASAP. He may even be able to give you a special power of attorney to get one for him while he is underway. If he doesn't have a notary or legal department on board then his XO can legally notarize a special power of attorney. Then have that lawyer postpone all proceedings, freeze all assets and judgements until he returns from sea.
Good luck,
EMC (SS)

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Permalink Reply by CHARLES R. STRAUSS on April 23, 2010 at 9:15pm

I APPRECIATE ALL THE MESSAGES. HERE IS THE THING, WHEN THEY GOT MARRIED A COUPLE DAYS AFTER THAT MY SON BOUGHT A CAR AND THAT IS IN HIS NAME ONLY AND SO IS THE LOAN. SHE TOOK THE CAR AND LEFT WITH IT. HE IS MAKING THE PAYMENTS ON THE CAR, HAS TO PAY FOR THE INSURANCE. THEY HAVE NOT FILED FOR DIVORCE OR EVEN FOR A SEPERATION. HE IS NOT GETTING GOOD LEGAL ADVISE FROM THE PEOPLE ON BASE.

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Permalink Reply by CHARLES R. STRAUSS on April 23, 2010 at 9:48pm

GET THIS, BECAUSE THEY ARE MARRIED AND EVEN THOUGH HE HAS HE CAR IN HIS NAME ONLY THE POLICE WILL DO NOTHING

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Permalink Reply by EMC (SS) on April 24, 2010 at 7:46am

I would say if he doesn't feel he is getting good advice then he should find a lawyer he gets along with out in town. He can have the car voluntarily REPOed and FFSC can help him with the process. However, this will have a negative impact on his credit score, but at least he will not longer have to make payments on a car he doesn't have.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Himmelspach on August 6, 2015 at 8:31pm

I too am in seek of help for my son.  In 2013 he graduated H.S., by the end of June he was in boot, then through A school, he came home before shipping to his duty station (Kitsap Bangor), and they were married.  She left today after just short of two years married.  I have advised him to talk to Legal ASAP. What and how can he protect his money in the bank, belongings etc.  They have been living on base housing.  He has got the house keys back.  I just don't know what or how this process works in the military.  I am a navy brat and thank god never had to live through this.  Thank god no kids are involved here.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on August 6, 2015 at 8:44pm

must talk to his Chief first and use Command

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