Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce - Emily Doskow [142]
Special Issues for Reservists: Modification of Support
A reserve service member's total salary might be reduced by mobilization. Reservists who suffer a loss of pay upon mobilization don't get an automatic reduction in support, because they're likely to regain their previous salary when they return to civilian work. However, depending on the anticipated length of the deployment and the amount of the reduction, the service member may want to seek a temporary reduction in the support payment.
The first place to look for the reduction is to the civilian spouse. If the service member parent and the civilian spouse have a cooperative relationship, the ex-spouse will probably agree to a temporary reduction while the reservist's civilian pay is reduced. If you make such an agreement, put it in writing. Otherwise, the service member must file a motion with the court, asking for a reduction in support. If that's the plan, the service member should get an attorney who can help to get the hearing expedited or make arrangements for the service member to participate from a distance.
It's important to modify support right away. Under federal law, any missed child support payment is immediately "vested," which means the obligation can't be discharged for any reason, even if the parent files for bankruptcy or a court later modifies support. In other words, a court can't make a retroactive modification of support. So if you're a reservist whose upcoming mobilization will reduce your income significantly, make sure you go to court now and request a change in your support obligation before your deployment.
Medical Benefits
The medical benefits program available to active duty service members, retirees, and family members is called TRICARE. To qualify, each eligible person must have complete and correct information on file with the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). There are a number of different types of TRICARE plans, but basic TRICARE coverage is free to a service member and the service member's family, with no copayments or prescription costs.
After a divorce, a service member's children continue to qualify for TRICARE. Unfortunately for civilian spouses, unless you meet some pretty stringent requirements, you will no longer qualify once you are divorced. You get to keep your TRICARE coverage only if all of the following things are true:
• You don't qualify for health insurance through your own employment.
• You haven't remarried.
• You meet the requirements of the 20/20/20 rule, meaning that you were married for at least 20 years, your spouse has at least 20 years of military service, and there was at least a 20-year overlap between those two time periods. (Lesser benefits are available to spouses who meet a 20/20/15 rule, meaning the overlap was at least 15 years.)
For example, say you were married in January of 1982 to a spouse who was already in military service. If your spouse is still in the military when you divorce any time after January of 2002, you'll continue to get TRICARE coverage because you were married more than 20 years, your spouse was in the military more than 20 years, and those time periods overlap. In contrast, if you married in 1982, your spouse joined the military in 1986, and you divorced in 2004, you'd have the 20 years of marriage but not the 20 years of military service.
COBRA, the insurance continuation law discussed in Chapter 11, does not apply to spouses in a military divorce. But there is something called the Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP) that offers transitional insurance benefits designed to help you move from TRICARE to coverage through your civilian employment. CHCBP can also provide coverage for preexisting medical conditions during the period that your new policy excludes them, if any. Rates aren't cheap (currently $933 per quarter for individuals and $1,933 per quarter for families) but they're not