ALCON, Proposed changes to the current Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (Divorce Law). This is long overdue as currently military members are the only citizens held hostage by such a law. Be advised that there is no active link on CAPWIZ right now so be sure to follow the instructions in the post below to write your legislators about this issue! ———————————————————————————— Capwiz Letter on the Military Divorce Law. One AFSA Legislative Platform target is to “Repeal/Modify the Former Spouses Protection Act.” American service-members are the only U.S. citizens who have a separate divorce law. This law, the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act, PL 97-252, allows a judge to award part of a military member’s retirement pay (actual or prospective), regardless of fault or circumstances, to anyone who was married to a military member for any length of time. Those interested in communicating with their elected officials about this issue may do so by writing, visiting, or calling congressional offices. However, a quick, efficient way to communicate your message is by going to the AFSA-sponsored Capwiz program at: capwiz/hqafsa/dbq/officials/ Then enter your full ZIP Code and press “GO.” Just above the photos of the President, your two senators, and your district representative, in the sentence, “Write to ALL of your representatives with one click or just go to the individual pages linked below,” click on the words “with one click.” Now enter (or cut and paste) your editable text, your sender information, and press “Send Message.” At the request of several AFSA advocates, here is an optional letter on the military divorce law to cut and paste into the editable text block (make sure to adjust the text to your specific circumstances, as desired): I urge you to take action to repeal or greatly modify the “Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act” (P.L. 97-252 and amendments). Military members are the only United States citizens who have a separate divorce law which, in effect, awards a portion of the military member’s military retirement pay to an ex-spouse regardless of fault or circumstances--or the duration of the marriage. While the law does not mandate that a judge must award a portion of the retirement pay, precedent has set such a scenario in motion, and such an award to an ex-spouse during a divorce proceeding has, in effect, become automatic. Frankly, the law has come to victimize those who serve. This “award” to an ex-spouse does not terminate upon remarriage; there is no statute of limitations; and the award is not based on the member’s rank at time of divorce—rather it is based on a percentage of the rank of the military member (often many years later) when the member retires from the military. Military members should be treated like every other U.S. citizen with the award on a case-by-case basis—not an automatic award (which is what this unfair law has become). While this unfair law should be repealed, at a minimum, I urge you to support an immediate change to three aspects of this law. First, any award of a member’s retirement pay should be prorated based on the member’s rank at the time of the divorce—not many years later when he or she actually retires. Secondly, any award to an ex-spouse should be terminated when the ex-spouse remarries. Finally, an ex-spouses should receive part a member’s retirement pay for no longer than the duration of the marriage. I urge you to introduce legislation to effect these common sense changes to the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act. As a voter and one of your constituents, I respectfully request a response to this letter so that I can understand where you stand on this issue.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 12:35:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015