mark.sullivan@ncfamilylaw.com | 919.832.8507
Mr. Sullivan is a retired Army Reserve JAG colonel. He practices family law in Raleigh, North Carolina and is the author of The Military Divorce Handbook (Am. Bar Assn., 3rd Ed. 2019) and many internet resources on military family law issues. A Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Mr. Sullivan has been a board-certified specialist in family law since 1989. He works with attorneys and judges nationwide on military divorce issues and in drafting military pension division orders.
A recent Ohio case teaches two lessons for the former spouse in a military divorce case: a) do not ever rely on government life insurance in a settlement, and b) be sure you have made a timely election of the survivor annuity, in case your EX dies first. Here the parties were divorced in 2005, and the decree required the ex-wife to be designated as beneficiary for the Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI) and the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) of the husband, a military retiree. Read More
Is military disability retired pay divisible in divorce? Is Concurrent Disability and Retired Pay divisible? A recent administrative ruling by the Department of Defense sheds new light on dividing CRDP when there is a disability retirement and a divorce. Let’s see what the new rule is.
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Thousands of servicemembers have been deployed in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Naval frigates, surveillance aircraft, artillery units and brigade combat teams are all heading out as part of the first-ever NATO Response Force.
Undoubtedly some of the servicemembers (SMs) will be involved in civil cases, administrative legal proceedings, and family law litigation. Some of these SMs will likely ask the court to freeze the case during a deployment (or any period in which the SM is unavailable due to assigned duties), so the status quo will remain while the SM is not available.
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The Pentagon has deployed thousands of servicemembers in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Naval frigates, surveillance aircraft, artillery units and brigade combat teams are all heading out as part of the first-ever NATO Response Force.
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The most important points to remember when handling a case involving the Military Survivor Benefits Plan. Read More
