I’ve been neglecting this blog for too long. My June Resolution is, make something happen here.
One thing that might help is if I told you all a little about myself. I’m a retiree from the Federal Civil Service (CSRS) and also a retiree from the USAF Reserve Forces. I had a 31 year marriage, that ‘went south’ in the year 2,000 … New Millennium, New Life, eh?
My wife at the time and I separated gradually over time. I had already moved out of the house, bought my own place to live and was giving her a mutually agreed upon allowance to live on. We have two children of that marriage but they were both emancipated and off living their own lives when the breakup occurred.
For months and months I kidded myself that since our affairs appeared to be in decent order and since I wasn’t going to try to disenfranchise my soon to be ex of her share of either of my pensions that we should just handle the divorce on our own. We were in Colorado at the time and Colorado law allows ‘do it yourself’ divorces, in fact the state makes it pretty easy as far as the amount and complexity of the paperwork required.
Fortunately for my future financial well-being my then spouse decided, out of the blue, to hire a divorce attorney … a bit of a fire breather or as Lee describes a gladiator. The attorney was not interested in a quick outcome for her client and she was certainly fixated on the idea of making life very difficult for me. When I saw the language on the papers I was served I quickly realized that I had extended a delicate part of my body very close to a meat grinder and it would be very advantageous for me to pull back quickly, and get some protection. Mo more of this “let’s just divide our assets and be on our way” thinking.
There are a lot of pros and cons offered about lawyers advertising but I for one am very much in favor. I knew that by far the biggest asset I had was my two government pensions and I knew that the chances of an attorney picked at random being an expert in these matters … the valuation and division of government pensions … was slim to none. I found a little yellow pages ad for Bill Carew that mentioned he “spoke” CSRS, FERS and Military Pensions. A quick consultation in his office and I had hired myself a legal representative. After some months I found I had also saved myself a fortune, embarked on a life-long learning task and made myself a friend for life.
If you’re where I was years ago, if you are thinking about or already entered into the divorce process, let me give you the one piece of utterly sound advice a layman is qualified to give … you absolutely need an attorney, no matter how easy or straightforward you think your divorce is going to be. And if you are (or will become) a Federal or military retiree, you better not use *Uncle Fred’s attorney, unless that attorney can spell CSRS, FERS, TSP, Reserve Forces, High 3, Redux, etc. It’s just not as simple as you think. I’ve made many poor investments in my life and a few good ones. There’s no doubt in my mind that the best investment I made was hiring an attorney who knew the specific subject matter required to make a clean valuation and division of Federal pensions. Do yourself a favor and find an attorney and ask him or her key questions regarding your pensions, survivor alternatives, health insurance issues, etc. You’ll be so glad you did when the guns finally go silent.
I am a retired Army Reservist from Colorado. I wish that my attorney had known more about the reserves and my retired pay. My ex- also hired a fire breather who keep trying to slip things by us and if I had not pointed out some things, I would have been cheated out of well over 100,000 dollars. We did hire another attorney to do the paperwork to divide the Army retired pay but I don’t think that she ever got around to filing it. I am sure she did not meet the 1 year requirement to notify HRC-STL. I just wonder if I will be required to split my retired pay or if she could enforce it.
Keep up the articles on living in PI – I am thinking of retiring there. I think that between my reserves retired pay, another pension I have and SS when it kicks in, I could live very nicely in PI.
@David: Hi David. Since you’re in Colorado already, I’d recommend you get in touch with my friend Bill Carew there in Colorado Springs … contact info on this page you are commenting on.
That’s an interesting question regarding missing the filing deadline. It certainly indicates pretty bad follow through on the part of your ex’s attorney. Any young up and coming attorneys reading here, get in touch with me, I’ll give you some free, layman’s advice on how to set yourself up in a specialty that is hardly covered at all in today’s legal world … a “target rich environment” as the military is wont to say.
The courts in most states are never all that ‘with it’ regarding military divorce in general,and when it comes to the Reserve Forces retirement program, it’s practically a closed book … especially with some of the creative, but perfectly legal ways one can shift benefits from one side to the other in the case.
A friend (USAFR Lt. Col) got a divorce in Colorado near the time I got mine. His wife’s attorney came at him, breathing fire, and said something like, “we don’t want any of that BS you have been throwing at us about your retirement. We want x amount of dollars and we want it now, you can keep your stupid retirement.”
After my friend and his lawyer recovered their breath, cash and a release document and a check were exchanges and my friend now lives happily on his pension with no ‘other hands’ taking any of it. The wife’s attorney and the wife seemed to have no idea of what the had given away … and the made such an issue of it, my friend had no choice but to comply … it is amazing how the side who is really cutting their own throat insists on deals that are really unfavorable to them.
As far as the Philippines, I take it you are already familiar with my http://www.philfaqs.com site, mainly about Can You Retire in the Philippines? There are many active and reserve forces folks living here where the military pension, which can hardly make the average car and mortgage payment in the US, can instead provide a perfectly adequate standard of living … I’m in my fourth year here already and no regrets at all … my bank manger doesn’t regret it either, I’m frankly amazed at how much I have put in savings over the past 4 years.