Military Divorces in Los Angeles

You knew the distance was hard, but you did not expect the paperwork to feel just as far away. You may be the one deployed, trying to understand what your rights are from thousands of miles away, or you may be the spouse at home, wondering whether you can even move forward while your partner is on active duty. You may have questions you do not even know how to ask yet, and the clock feels like it is already running. 

At The Sands Law Group, we can answer the questions keeping you up at night and fight to protect what matters most to you, no matter which side of this you are on.

Unlike a civilian divorce, a military divorce is governed by California family law and federal law. California’s community property rules apply to assets acquired during the marriage. Federal laws govern how military retirement pay is divided, what benefits a former spouse can retain, and what protections a deployed servicemember holds during legal proceedings.

A Los Angeles military divorce attorney who understands both layers is not optional. It is the difference between a clean divorce and one that unravels the moment someone files the wrong order.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) allows active-duty servicemembers to request a stay of civil cases like divorce when military duties prevent participation. The initial stay lasts at least 90 days, ensuring the servicemember doesn’t default simply due to deployment.

In our experience, the real issue military spouses face is that the same SCRA stay that protects the servicemember can delay temporary orders for custody and support that the at-home spouse needs immediately. A stay pauses the entire proceeding, including requests for financial relief that would otherwise move quickly. An attorney who understands this tension can work within the framework to seek relief where the law allows, rather than waiting out a pause.

Federal law gives California courts authority to treat military retirement pay as marital property in a divorce, and California then applies its own community property rules to determine which share was earned during the marriage and how it is divided between the spouses.

Two rules shape how that division works in practice:

• The disposable pay limit. Only disposable retired pay, meaning the total after certain statutory deductions, is subject to division under federal law. VA disability compensation is excluded entirely.
• The 10/10 rule. For a former spouse to receive pension payments directly from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the marriage must have overlapped with at least ten years of qualifying military service. Without that overlap, the court can still award a share of the pension, but the servicemember makes those payments directly.

Both rules require precise language in the divorce decree, and a military divorce lawyer in Los Angeles can help with that. 

Whether a former spouse retains military benefits depends almost entirely on how long the marriage lasted and how much of that time overlapped with qualifying military service.

• The 20/20/20 rule. A former spouse married for at least twenty years, with a twenty-year overlap between the marriage and the service member’s creditable service, retains full TRICARE health coverage, along with commissary and exchange privileges, after the divorce.
• The 20/20/15 rule. A former spouse with at least twenty years of marriage and a fifteen- to nineteen-year overlap may qualify for transitional TRICARE coverage for one year after the divorce.
• Below the threshold. Former spouses who do not meet either standard lose military health benefits when the divorce is finalized. Transitional civilian coverage may be available if arranged quickly after the decree is entered.

Getting the characterization right in the divorce decree is crucial because errors in calculating overlap years can disqualify a former spouse from benefits they would otherwise receive.

California courts decide custody based on the child’s best interests. However, deployment can alter parenting time in ways that may seem permanent if these changes aren’t addressed in the divorce decree in advance. 

A custody order for a military family should specifically cover:

• What happens to the servicemember’s parenting time during deployment;
• How electronic communication with the child is maintained while the servicemember is away; and
• How custody transitions back when the servicemember returns from deployment.

Without those provisions, the parties must return to court every time a deployment order is issued, which costs time, money, and stability for the children caught in the middle.

Military divorce involves a layer of federal law, benefit calculations, and jurisdictional questions that most family law firms rarely encounter. The Sands Law Group has spent over a decade handling these cases, and our attorneys bring that depth of knowledge to every Los Angeles military divorce we take on. The American Institute of Trial Lawyers named us Litigator of the Year in 2024, and the National Institute of Trial Lawyers recognized us as Best Law Firm in America in 2025, distinctions that reflect what we produce inside a courtroom when negotiation is not enough. Our nine California locations mean you have local counsel no matter where you are stationed or based, and our flexible fee structures help ensure your access to that representation does not depend on your rank or your savings account.

A military divorce in Los Angeles moves through a legal framework that most attorneys rarely encounter, and the decisions made early in the process follow both parties for years. Contact The Sands Law Group today for a free case evaluation and put a team that knows both California family law and federal military law in your corner from the start.