A former spouse’s share of military retirement pay lasts until either the retiree or the former spouse dies, whichever happens first. There is no set number of years attached to how long a former spouse receives military retirement, and remarriage does not cut the payments off. When the retiree dies, the retirement pay stream ends for everyone, including the former spouse.1Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Frequently Asked Questions
What Actually Ends the Payments
Two events, and only two, end a former spouse’s court-ordered share of military retired pay: the death of the retiree or the death of the former spouse. Retirement pay is not an asset that can be willed or inherited. Once the retiree dies, there is no more retired pay to divide, so the former spouse’s share stops with it.1Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Frequently Asked Questions
The most common source of confusion is remarriage. A former spouse who remarries keeps receiving their share of the retirement pay. That share is a property division from the marital estate, not alimony, and it does not turn off when the former spouse walks down the aisle again. The only way remarriage ends the payments is if the divorce decree itself specifically says so.1Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Frequently Asked Questions
The length of the marriage is not a cutoff either. There is a “10/10 Rule” that governs whether the Defense Finance and Accounting Service will send the former spouse’s share directly, but that rule only controls the payment method. It has nothing to do with how long payments last or whether the former spouse is entitled to a share in the first place.2Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Legal Information and Court Order Requirements
What Can Change the Amount Along the Way
The duration is fixed by the two deaths, but the monthly dollar amount is not. Several mechanisms can shrink or grow the payment during the retiree’s lifetime, and a former spouse who assumes the check will stay level is often surprised.
VA Disability Waivers
A former spouse’s share is calculated from the retiree’s “disposable retired pay,” not the gross pension. Disposable retired pay is the monthly retirement payment minus certain items, including any amount waived so the retiree can receive VA disability compensation and any Survivor Benefit Plan premiums.3Legal Information Institute. 10 USC 1408(a)(4)
When a retiree waives retirement pay to receive VA disability, the disposable retired pay figure drops, and the former spouse’s share drops with it. VA disability money itself is not divisible, and the former spouse has no claim to it.
CRDP and CRSC
Some retirees qualify for Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, which restores part or all of the waived retirement pay. When CRDP kicks in, disposable retired pay goes back up, and so does the former spouse’s share.4Defense Finance and Accounting Service. CRDP-CRSC-FAQs
Combat-Related Special Compensation is a different program. CRSC payments are not treated as retired pay and are not divisible. A retiree who moves from CRDP to CRSC can effectively reduce what the former spouse receives.
Cost-of-Living Adjustments
Whether the payment grows over time depends on how the divorce decree is drafted. A percentage award of disposable retired pay grows automatically with each annual cost-of-living adjustment. A fixed dollar award stays flat for the life of the payments, even if the decree mentions COLAs.1Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Frequently Asked Questions Across a 20-year retirement, that drafting choice can add up to a significant difference.
The Frozen Benefit Rule
Since December 2016, when the service member has not yet retired at the time of divorce, federal law requires the court to calculate the former spouse’s share based on the member’s rank and years of service on the date of the divorce, not the date the member eventually retires. Promotions and additional service years after the divorce still grow the retiree’s pension, but the former spouse’s share is frozen at the earlier level.
Why the Retiree’s Death Ends Everything Unless SBP Is in Place
Because retirement pay stops at the retiree’s death, a former spouse who wants any income beyond that point needs Survivor Benefit Plan coverage. SBP is an annuity funded by premiums deducted from the retiree’s monthly check, and it pays the designated beneficiary for life after the retiree dies.5Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Former Spouses – Survivor Benefit Plan
A divorce court can order the service member to elect former spouse SBP coverage. If the retiree fails to make the election, the former spouse can file a “deemed election” on DD Form 2656-10, but it must reach DFAS within one year of the date the court order was issued. Miss that deadline and coverage can be lost permanently.6Defense Finance and Accounting Service. SBP Beneficiary – Former Spouse Deemed Election DFAS has documented cases where premiums were deducted from the retiree’s pay for years but the former spouse turned out to have no coverage because the paperwork was never properly filed.7Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Spouse or Former Spouse SBP Coverage RAS
Remarriage rules for the SBP annuity are stricter than for the retirement share. If a former spouse receiving SBP annuity payments remarries before age 55, the annuity is suspended. If that later marriage ends for any reason, the annuity is reinstated as of the first day of the month it ends. Former spouse annuitants under 55 have to verify their marital status every year; DFAS sends a status letter three months before the annuitant’s birthday, and the form must be returned by the first of the birthday month.8Defense Finance and Accounting Service. How Remarriage Before Age 55 Affects SBP Eligibility
The bottom line on duration is straightforward. The retirement share runs from the first payment until the first death between the retiree and the former spouse. Remarriage does not touch it. What can change is the size of the check, through disability waivers, CRDP and CRSC choices, and how the decree handled COLAs. And what happens after the retiree dies depends entirely on whether SBP was properly set up while there was still time to do it.