Reserve and National Guard Issues in Family Court Part 2. RESERVE COMPONENT “POINT” SYSTEM1/15/2023 Second in a series of articles addressing Reserve and National Guard Retirement in Family Court by Barry J. Bernstein As noted throughout this series, Reserve Component (“RC”) military retirements differ greatly from Active Component (AC) retirements. The National Guard and Reserves are collectively referred to as Reserve Components, but while they differ in many ways, their federal retirement plans are the same. Before calculating retirement, one should first fully understand “vesting” into the system. Once vested, the point system (with rank) determines retirement pay. (AC = Rank x Years) AC retirement amount is founded on rank and years of service. Once accumulating 20 years, the AC Servicemember is vested and can draw retirement. AC servicemembers can draw lifelong retirement benefits before age 40! (RC= Rank x Points) RC retirement is founded on rank and points. Reservists or National Guardsman must have 20 “qualifying” years to vest. Along with rank, points become the driving factor in of retirement pay. RC benefits do not begin until age 60! The RC retirement concept originates from days of service. At its core, a point equals a duty day. However, the nature of the RC career is different, and the system accommodates these differences to retain qualified RC servicemembers and compensate them for the additional time required in different ways. The points available to RC servicemembers are: - Active-duty days (one day = 1 point) - Drill days (2 pay periods = 2 points per drill day)* - Annual training (15 days, one point daily = 15 points)* - Correspondence course points (Each component calculates differently) - Membership points (15 points per year, prorated for fractional years= 15 points)* Those noted with an asterisk (*) are typical base reserve duty accruals each year. The biggest difference of points in RC careers are the active-duty points from prior service, mobilizations, or special duty opportunities. The below reflects a sample 3,200 point accrual for a major. It reflects 3 years of initial active duty, for schools and a 1-year mobilization (across 2 RYE). Had the same major only had nine months of initial active duty for training only, the accrual would significantly drop from 3,200 to 2,400.  While this article is intended to inform you of unique issues of the military and veterans, it does not replace the need for proper legal advice by a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.
* The author retired as a colonel after 34 years of service. He now practices law at Bernstein Law Firm, LLC in Irmo, SC, advising clients and attorneys on military issues.
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First of a series of articles addressing Reserve and National Guard Issues in Family Court By Barry J. Bernstein* A division of military retirement is dramatically different for National Guardsmen or Reservists than from Active Duty. The National Guard and Reserves, collectively referred to as Reserve Components (or “RC”), are under a different system than Active Component (“AC”) counterparts. Any litigant not knowing the rules could be giving away a small fortune, and a lawyer not knowing the significance is potentially committing malpractice. Active Component (AC) Example: Major Payne on active duty serves for 20 years and is married for exactly half of that period. In a divorce, the ex-spouse could be entitled to half (50%) of the retirement earned during half (50%) of the marriage. The formula may be as easy as finding a 25% spousal entitlement (50% of 50% =25%). RC retirements, unlike active duty, are based on a point system, not years of service. The years of service are only important for vesting (20 “qualifying” years) for entitlement to retirement. Once the vesting threshold is reached, the calculation of the benefit is based on the number of points (not years) and the retired rank achieved. The same fact pattern as described above for the AC looks dramatically different with on one factor appropriately applied. Reserve Component (RC) Example: Major Payne retires from the Army Reserve after 20 years, married for half that period, same as the AC formula above. In the RC scenario, we assume a Major Payne has 5 years of active duty and 15 years of minimal reserve service point accrual as a Guardsman. Instead of a simple 25% spousal entitlement claim like the AC example, the potential spousal entitlement ranges from 20-44%.
The above example is an extreme, with all the active-duty time lumped together either outside or during the marriage period. In the real world, there will be a blend of active-duty time throughout the reservist’s career. However, where AC duty time occurs dramatically impacts the appropriate division. The issue raised here is that dividing RC retirement should NEVER be assumed to divide the same as the AC counterpart. A reasonable analysis should be made before attempting to divide the RC retirement to fully understand the spousal entitlement. While these articles are intended to inform you of unique issues of the military and veterans, it does not replace the need for proper legal advice by a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.
*The author retired as a colonel from the Army after 34 years of service. He now practices law as Bernstein Law, LLC in South Carolina, advising clients and attorneys on military issues. |
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