subject: What To Consider In A Military Divorce In Virginia [print this page] While it's true whenever two people get married they vow to be with each other until death, life is fairly unpredictable and many things can go awry. In any case, it is difficult to predict what kinds of incidents are likely to arise many years down the road. Whatever the case, the process of divorce was set in place for those that wished to end the marriage. Even though during its early days divorce was extremely uncommon due to a large number of factors (the main one being social backlash), it is significantly more common to see people who are ready to go through the procedure. When you're in a situation where you need to go for a military divorce, then before seeking a Virginia Beach divorce attorney it is important to first spend some time to be aware of the implications of such divorces.
A Look at Military Divorce
Different from civilian divorces, military divorces put into play various situations which complicate the entire divorce procedure. To start things off, there are Federal laws which prevent someone who is active duty in the military services to be divorced with no knowledge of it, as they are protected from being forced to respond to a divorce action, or any other civil suit, while on active duty. As a matter of fact, the proceedings can be deferred for as much as sixty days after the time of active service; or an active duty member can decide to waive any delaying if they indeed prefer the divorce.
When it comes to the spouse, the Federal and state laws are basically the same. If the spouse is on active duty, she must personally receive a summons to the court as well as a copy of the divorce Complaint; if not, the Virginia court will most definitely have no jurisdiction over the court case. Whenever the court case stays uncontested, the spouse may be served an affidavit whereby they completely comprehend the steps taken in regards to divorce.
In most cases, the prerequisites to get a military divorce say that one person involved must be residing or stationed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The reasons used for the divorce are the same ones as in a civilian case. So far as property division, the standard Property Division Laws apply, in addition the government has additionally put in place the Uniformed Services Fomer Spouses' Protection Act which has the purpose to ascertain who should receive how much military retirement benefits upon divorce. Yet, the military retirement funds may be subjected to an exception if the husband or wife has been married for under 10 years while the military spouse was on active duty.
In case there are children involved in the case, the child support laws and regulations say that alimony as well as child support may not be greater than 60% of a military member's pay. The regular process is used to set how much a member will pay for child support in case of a divorce.
Getting Virginia Beach Divorce Attorney
As you can see, a military divorce is different from a standard one as there are other specifics to iron out. Fortunately though, searching for a Virginia Beach divorce lawyer is one of the easiest things to do out there. To start things off, you may always check out the various law firms in the city and check out the lawyers they have for you. Although you will probably find a capable divorce attorney in town this way, it will require a lot of time to look through all the choices prior to making a final decision.
In addition to that, you can also get a Virginia Beach divorce attorney by looking on the internet on legal directories which allow you to easily reach practically every single lawyer in your city. These websites can be best described as directories containing lists of lawyers and attorneys, and it should be added that they have been neatly organized for your convenience.
All in all, keep in mind that a military divorce has a few nuances which need to be dealt with differently than in a regular civilian divorce. Unless you are quite familiar with the laws around this subject, it is recommended that you take the time to find a Virginia Beach divorce lawyer to assist you through the whole process; after all, divorce is a painful thing to experience psychologically why make your life even worse by going into the legal side of things?
