Military divorces in Missouri may offer unique issues

When a person in the military decides to divorce, unique issues can be involved as federal laws are in place to protect members of the armed services. For instance, a person on active duty cannot be ambushed with service of process when deployed to serve the country. But, other issues can also be complicated when a member of the armed forces is involved in a Missouri divorce. Take child custody and visitation issues involving a service member. The issues can have unique circumstances.

A recent study suggests that the divorce rate among our military personnel may be affected by long-term deployments overseas. Researchers looked into the number of military divorces that occurred between the years of 1999 and 2008. More than 462,000 enlisted troops who got married while in the service were involved in the research.

In marriages where a service member who was married in 1999 and was deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq for at least 12 months, the risk of divorce jumped 28 percent, according to the researchers. But, the study also found that the divorce rate among deployed military personnel who had married after the 9/11 terror attacks was lower. The study authors believe that couples who married after the attacks may have entered into the marriage with an understanding of the changes that the 9/11 brutality forced upon the world.



While deployment may seem to have some impact on a marriage, according to the research, it is always important to remember that each divorce is unique. Different families have different structures, including unique property and financial structures. Parents may have different levels of understanding of how custody and support issues are handled in Missouri family court. Addressing the issues in the process with an eye to the final result is important to the process.

Source: Huffington Post, “Military Divorce Risk Increases With Lengthy Deployments,” Sept. 3, 2013