I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1111
To amend title 10, United States Code, to revise the rules relating to the 
court-ordered apportionment of the retired pay of members of the uni-
formed services to former spouses, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2003
Mr. BALLENGER (for himself, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. 
BEAUPREZ, Mr. GOODE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LAHOOD, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. 
CUNNINGHAM, and Mr. HOSTETTLER) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to revise the rules 
relating to the court-ordered apportionment of the retired 
pay of members of the uniformed services to former 
spouses, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Uniformed Services 
Divorce Equity Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. PROPORTIONATE DIVISION OF RETIRED PAY FOR 
FORMER SPOUSES. 
Section 1408(c) of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(5)(A) In the case of a court order issued on or after 
the date of the enactment of the Uniformed Services Di-
vorce Equity Act of 2003 in which the court, pursuant 
to paragraph (1), provides for treatment of the disposable 
retired pay of a member as property of the member and 
the member’s spouse, the court (unless otherwise expressly 
provided for by a spousal agreement) shall award the 
spouse or former spouse a share of such retired pay as 
follows: 
‘‘(i) If the spouse or former spouse was married 
to the member throughout the service of the member 
that is creditable for computation of retired pay, a 
share equal to 50 percent of the disposable retired 
pay of the member. 
‘‘(ii) If the spouse or former spouse was not 
married to the member throughout the service of the 
member that is creditable for computation of retired 
pay, a share equal to that proportion of 50 percent 
of the disposable retired pay of the member that is 
the proportion that—
‘‘(I) the number of days of the marriage of 
the former spouse to the participant during pe-
riods of such creditable service bears to the 
total number of days of such creditable service; 
or 
‘‘(II) in the case of a member for whom re-
tired pay is payable under chapter 1223 of this 
title, the number of points credited under sec-
tion 12733 of this title for computation of the 
member’s retired pay that accrued during the 
period of marriage bears to the total number of 
points credited under that section for computa-
tion of the member’s retired pay. 
‘‘(B) In subparagraph (A), the term ‘spousal agree-
ment’ means an agreement between a member and the 
member’s spouse or former spouse that—
‘‘(i) is in writing, is signed by the parties, 
and is notarized; and 
‘‘(ii) has not been modified by court 
order.’’. 
SEC. 3. DURATION OF PAYMENT OF RETIRED PAY TO 
FORMER SPOUSES. 
(a) LIMITATION.—Section 1408(c) of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by adding after paragraph (5), 
as added by section 2, the following new paragraph:
‘‘(6)(A) If the period of the marriage during which 
time the member was qualifying for retired pay through 
military service is less than 240 months, payments under 
paragraph (1) shall be made by the member to the former 
spouse for a period equal to the number of months of the 
marriage during which time the member was qualifying 
for retired pay through military service, except that, in 
the case of payments made pursuant a court order of di-
vorce, dissolution, annulment, or legal separation issued 
after the date of the enactment of Uniformed Services Di-
vorce Equity Act of 2003, such payments shall terminate 
upon the remarriage of the former spouse, if such remar-
riage occurs before the end of such period. 
‘‘(B) If the period of the marriage during which time 
the member was qualifying for retired pay through mili-
tary service is 240 months or more, payments under para-
graph (1) shall terminate in accordance with the terms 
of the applicable court order, but not later than the date 
of the death of the member or the date of the death of 
the spouse or former spouse to whom payments are being 
made, whichever occurs first.’’. 
(b) TERMINATION OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
PAYMENTS.—Section 1408(d)(4) of such title is amend-
ed—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(4)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) In the case of payments from the disposable re-
tired pay of a member pursuant to this section that are 
subject to termination by reason of subsection (c)(6)(A), 
the Secretary concerned shall terminate such payments—
‘‘(i) upon written request of the member, if in-
formation in possession of the Secretary or provided 
by the member is sufficient for the Secretary to con-
clude that the provisions for termination under sub-
section (c)(6)(A) are satisfied; or 
‘‘(ii) upon effective service of a court order 
modifying the court order under which the payments 
to the member’s spouse or former spouse have been 
made.’’. 
(c) TRANSITION PROVISION.—
(1) MARRIAGES TERMINATED BEFORE ENACT-
MENT.—With respect to a court order issued before 
the date of the enactment of this Act, if the length 
of the marriage before the court order during which 
time the member was qualifying for retired pay 
through military service was less than 240 months—
(A) if payments by the member to the 
spouse or former spouse as of the date of the 
enactment of this Act have been made for less 
than the number of months of the marriage
during which time the member was qualifying 
for retired pay through military service, pay-
ments shall continue in the amount specified in 
the court order until such payments have been 
made for the number of months of the marriage 
during which time the members was qualifying 
for retired pay through military service, but in 
no event shall such payments terminate by rea-
son of this paragraph sooner than the end of 
the 24-month period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act; and 
(B) if payments by the member to the 
former spouse as of the date of the enactment 
of this Act have been made for a period equal 
to or greater than the number of months of the 
marriage during which time the member was 
qualifying for retired pay through military serv-
ice, payments shall terminate 24 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, unless 
sooner terminated under some other provision 
of law.
(2) APPLICABILITY OF DOD TERMINATION PRO-
VISIONS.—Subparagraph (B) of subsection (d)(4) of 
section 1408 of title 10, United States Code, as 
added by subsection (b), shall apply to the provisions