Opinion ID: 2549122
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: requirements for enforceability under usfspa.

Text: The provision of the SSCRA that has primary application to the USFSPA and the division of military retired pay is the section concerning default judgments against active duty service members. This section requires that if an active duty defendant fails to make an appearance in a legal proceeding, the plaintiff must file an affidavit with the court informing the court of the member's military status. The court shall appoint an attorney to represent the interests of the absent defendant. [12] Since a member has 90 days after separation from active duty service to apply to a court rendering a judgment to re-open a case on SSCRA grounds [13] , the SSCRA is not a USFSPA issue where a member has been retired for more than 90 days.
This is a killer requirement. For a division of retired pay as property award to be enforceable under the USFSPA, the former spouse must have been married to the member for a period of 10 years or more during which the member performed at least 10 years of service creditable towards retirement eligibility. [14] This requirement does not apply to the Court's authority to divide military retired pay, but only to the ability of the former spouse to get direct payments from DFAS. This is a statutory requirement, and not a personal right of the member that can be waived. Although this requirement was probably included in the USFSPA to protect members, we have had more complaints about it from members than from former spouses. Assuming that a member intends to meet his or her legal obligations, the member would much rather have us pay the former spouse directly rather than have to write a check each month. It would lessen contact with the former spouse, and the former spouse would receive her or his own IRS Form 1099, instead of the member being taxed on the entire amount of military retired pay. If we cannot determine from the court order whether the 10/10 requirement has been met, we may ask the former spouse to provide a copy of the parties' marriage certificate. A recitation in the court order such as, The parties were married for 10 years or more while the member performed 10 years or more of military service creditable for retirement purposes will satisfy the 10/10 requirement.
The USFSPA's jurisdictional requirement is found in 10 U.S.C. § 1408(c)(4). This is another killer requirement. If it is not met, the former spouse's application for retired pay as property payments under the USFSPA will be rejected. For a court to have the authority to divide military retired pay, the USFSPA requires that the court have C-4 jurisdiction over the military member in one of three ways. One way is for the member to consent to the jurisdiction of the court. The member indicates his or her consent to the court's jurisdiction by taking some affirmative action with regard to the legal proceeding, such as filing any responsive pleading in the case. Simply receiving notice of filing of the divorce complaint or petition is not sufficient. Consent is the most common way for a court to have C-4 jurisdiction over a member. The other ways for the court to have C-4 jurisdiction is for the member to be a resident of the State other than because of his or her military assignment, or for the court to find that the member was domiciled in the particular State. Now, the key with regard to domicile is that it should be the court making this determination, and it should be noted in the divorce decree.