Home > Research Legal Advice > Divorce / Separation > Military pension & divorce seems to be a specialized area & 5 paid consu...
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Asked about 1 year ago - Modesto, CA
FlagI am attempting to divorce my husband of 17 years. We are both located in Modesto, CA, but every lawyer I've paid for a consult with admits they don't really deal with Military pension division regularly. My husband and I have been legally separated since 2007, but we were attempting to reconcile until Oct. 2010. One attorney said he can make a case that I'm entitled to pension division up until 2010, others say only until the legal separation. None say they really specialize in Military pensions. Is there any Attorney who can help me, or has a suggestion who could possibly best represent me, or I should possibly consult with in Modesto, CA. I have less than 2 weeks to respond to my husbands attorney, so time is running out. Thank you.
I don't know why your paying for consultations. You should retain an attorney. Paying for this type of thing piecemeal is not productive for you purposes nor is it a good business model for an attorney.
I am from Modesto, but divorce and separation not my focus area at this time. I generally field these questions to my friends who focus on divorce. But his military retirement really doesnt sound that complicated.
I assume military couples have divorced in the past so it shouldn't be that difficult. I also understand the old rules where that the non-military spouse didn't get the retirement, but that has since been changed by the feds. In other words, you are entitled to part of his military pension.
I dont understand why you can't find an attorney unless you don't have the money for one.
It sounds like you are trying to get two separate steps accomplished at once.
First, hire a family law attorney to handle all aspects of your case, including getting you to a JUDGMENT OF DISSOLUTION that states that the military pension shall be divided by QUALIFIED DOMESTIC RELATIONS ORDER (QDRO).
Then, standard practice of family law attorneys is to farm the preparation of the QDRO out to an expert who does pretty much only that. The cost for the paid QDRO preparer goes from $340 to $2600 per QDRO, so your family law attorney should shop around.
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