Military Divorce

Civilian divorce is complicated enough, but when it comes to military divorce, the rules change a bit and things can become even more difficult.

In Arizona, federal laws and protection apply in military divorces differently than they do in civilian divorces.

These laws protect active duty military members from begin held in “default” if they fail to respond to a divorce action, which could happen in the event that they are overseas or unable to make contact with their spouse, preventing them from essentially being divorced without being aware of it.

Being Served while Serving

When an active duty military member is served with a divorce summons, it must include a copy of the divorce action in order for the Arizona court to have jurisdiction over the active military member.

If the divorce in uncontested, the active duty spouse may not have to be formally served. If this is the case, they do have to sign a waiver affidavit acknowledging the divorce action.

In order for a military divorce to be filed in Arizona, one or both spouses must reside in Arizona, and one or both spouses must be stationed in Arizona.

The grounds for a military divorce are the same as those required for a civilian divorce. Arizona is a “no-fault” divorce state, meaning that there doesn’t need to be any showing of wrongdoing by one of the parties.

When division of property is taken into consideration during military divorce, the complication can go even further. In Arizona, property in a marriage is considered community property, and the following may be subject to equitable division through family law court:

• Military pensions
• Retirement accounts
• Investment accounts
• Personal property
• Real estate

If you, your spouse, or both of you are members of the United States Military, contact an experienced Tucson divorce attorney at Thrush Law Group for help with your military divorce.