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Texas Law - Can Military Retirement Pay Be Divided? Military Retirement benefits may be divided like a private pension. The federal Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (10 United States Code Annotated Sec 1408) applies retroactively in that it allows division in marriage dissolution proceedings of military retirement benefits for pay periods beginning in 1981. The court frequently awards half to each spouse of the pay accrued during the marriage, but it has discretion to make another award. However, under a 1990 Supreme Court ruling, Mansell (490 U.S. 581, 109 S Ct 2023), benefits that are characterized as "disability" benefits as opposed to "retirement benefits" remain the separate property of the member of the military. Cases: Wallace v Fuller (1992) 832 SW2d 714 (holding that the state could divide military retirement benefits but not military disability benefits. This is so, even though the military serviceperson could, in some cases, voluntarily reclassify retirement benefits as disability benefits and thus avoid sharing them with his or her former spouse). Harkrider (1985) 686 SW2d 712 (husband's military retirement pension, which was not mentioned in original divorce decree, was subject to division upon later petition by wife. The community property portion was: # months married-and-in-service / total # months in service. Wife was entitled to receive 50% of this. In this case, wife received 50% of 193/240 of each monthly payment, which amounts to 40% of each monthly payment.)
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