A divorce decree awarded the wife a portion of the husband's military retirement pay. Sixteen years later, the husband retired from the military, and eleven years after that, the Veteran's Administration determined that he had a service-connected disability. The husband elected to waive part of his retirement pay and receive disability payments from the Veteran's Administration instead. The former wife sued to require the husband to continue to pay her share of the military retirement pay based on the full amount before waiver, but the Texas Supreme Court held that the divorce decree divided only military retirement pay, not Veteran's Administration disability pay. Hagen v. Hagen, 282 S.W.3d 899 (Tex. 2009).

Courtesy of Verner & Brumley, P.C. Dallas, Texas

Tags: retirement, disability, military