Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA)
The Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA) recognizes the right of state courts to distribute military retired pay to a spouse or former spouse and provides a method of enforcing these orders through the Department of Defense.
The USFSPA also provides a method of enforcing current and/or previously owed (arrears) child support and current alimony awarded in the court order.
The USFSPA does not automatically entitle a former spouse to a portion of the member's retired pay. A former spouse must have been awarded a portion of a member's military retired pay as property in their final court order.
Child Support, Alimony and Retired Pay
Court orders enforceable under the USFSPA include final decrees of divorce, dissolution, annulment, and legal separation, and court-ordered property settlements incident to such decrees. The pertinent court order must provide for the payment of child support, alimony, or retired pay as property, to a former spouse.
In all cases where the member was on active duty at the time of the divorce, the member's rights under the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act (SCRA), or, for divorces prior to December 19, 2003, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 (SSCRA), must have been observed during the state court proceeding.
The maximum that can be paid to a former spouse under the USFSPA is 50 percent of a member's disposable retired pay. In cases where there are payments both under the USFSPA and pursuant to a garnishment for child support or alimony, the total amount payable cannot exceed 65 percent of the member's disposable earnings.
Disposable retired pay
Disposable retired pay is gross retired pay less authorized deductions.
The authorized deductions depend on the effective date of the parties’ divorce, dissolution, annulment or legal separation. If the date was on or after February 3, 1991, the authorized deductions are:
Amounts owed to the United States for previous overpayments of retired pay and for recoupments required by law resulting from entitlement to retired pay
Forfeitures of retired pay ordered by court-martial
Amounts of retired pay waived in order to receive compensation for federal civilian employment or from the Department of Veterans Affairs
The amount of the member's retired pay for disability computed using the percentage of the member's disability on the date when the member was retired (or the date on which the member's name was placed on the temporary disability retired list)
Premiums paid as a result of an election for payments under the Survivor Benefit Plan to provide an annuity to a spouse or former spouse to whom payment of a portion of such member's retired pay is being made pursuant to a court order
payment changes
If a former spouse was awarded a percentage of a member’s disposable retired pay, changes in the member’s authorized deductions will result in a change in the amount the former spouse receives.
Percentage awards will automatically receive a proportionate share of the member’s cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), but COLAs are not available for fixed dollar amount awards, even if COLAs were awarded in the court order.
The right to payments under the USFSPA terminates upon the death of the member or former spouse, unless the applicable court order provides that the payments terminate earlier.
