160 DIVorCe wItH DeCenCY
Under the old rule, even if a nice guy ex-husband had wanted
to continue carrying his ex-wife on his medical insurance, his
employer and the insurance companies wouldn’t let him.
It should also be noted that many federal and state govern-
mental agencies, including the military, are exempt from hav-
ing to provide COBRA coverage (although the military offers a
COBRA-like program called “CHCBP”). Most of the bigger pri-
vate companies, however, now do have an obligation to continue
to provide the option for ongoing health insurance coverage for
their employees’ ex-spouses for at least the first three years fol-
lowing the divorce.
Finally, remember that medical debts are the leading cause of
personal bankruptcy in the U.S. I was totally shocked the first
time I heard a cynical veteran divorce lawyer counsel her client,
“Either keep your spouse healthy... or you may not want to keep
your spouse at all!” What a “sick” thought!
Issues in Military Divorces
Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There’s too much fraternizing with
the enemy.
—Henry Kissinger
As referenced earlier, military retirement pay and benefits are
marital property, and both are generally subject to adjudication
in state courts. Spouses of marriages that last through ten years
or more of military service can also gain substantial advantages
in the pay out and enforcement mechanisms of pension awards.
Former spouses of marriages that lasted through at least twenty
years of active military service are generally entitled to continu-
ing commissary, medical, and PX benefits. Thus, military depen-
dent spouses shouldn’t be too hasty with processing their divorce
if they are approaching a ten- or twenty-year mark.
Resumption of Maiden Name
It takes two good women to make a good husband and the first one is his
mother.
—Tom Mullin