Living in a military family involves distinctive challenges. You and your spouse must often cope with long periods of being apart, even in different countries. When you are together, you may need to relocate to different states or countries when your spouse is reassigned to a different military base.
This type of lifestyle means that if you and your spouse get divorced, your divorce might look a little bit different than non-military divorces. If it appears you are heading for a military divorce, here are some considerations to keep in mind as you prepare to file.
Determine which state to file divorce in
It might not necessarily be Georgia, even if you live here or your spouse is stationed here. Whoever is filing must meet Georgia residency requirements to file.
Under Georgia law, you or your spouse must have been a Georgia resident for at least six months before filing for divorce. A member of the U.S. military can file if they have resided on any military base or U.S. army post within Georgia for at least one year before filing.
Deciding where to file is often the biggest decision in a military divorce. Sometimes there might be more than one state that could assert jurisdiction.
For example, your military spouse may meet jurisdiction requirements to file where they are stationed, but you could be living back in your hometown and meet residency requirements there.
Factors to consider when deciding where to file
In this situation, convenience and state divorce laws are two factors that typically determine the best place to file. Generally, the state where property resides, where children are located or where you vote, pay taxes and hold bank accounts is the more convenient state. Most spouses do not want to have to fly or travel a long distance to another state just to appear in a divorce court.
Additionally, states have different divorce laws. Georgia, like many states, offers a no-fault divorce. This means you do not need to assert any specific grounds for divorce other than that your marriage is irretrievably broken, usually meaning there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
Other states, such as Mississippi, only offer fault-based divorce. Fault-based divorce states make getting a divorce more difficult, since you must provide grounds for divorce, such as adultery, to obtain a divorce. State laws on child custody, child support or spousal support can also affect where you file.
The Civil Servicemembers Relief Act
Another consideration in a military divorce is the potential length of time it may take to finalize a divorce if the military spouse is on active duty during the proceedings, making it difficult or impossible to attend court hearings or meaningfully participate in the divorce process.
The Civil Servicemembers Relief Act (“SCRA”) was created for this situation. The SCRA provides a stay of proceedings while a military member is on active duty. In certain situations, it also protects a military member from default judgments for failure to respond to a divorce petition or failure to appear in court.
There are commonalities between a military divorce and non-military divorce. Both are civil matters and within the jurisdiction of the state courts. There are no military courts or tribunals for divorce.
A military attorney might help with initial divorce paperwork, but they cannot represent you in civil divorce proceedings. You and your spouse would need to obtain private attorneys to represent you in a Georgia divorce.