Arlington Heights Military Divorce Attorneys

Family Law Practice Areas:

Sterling Lawyers, LLC
Exclusively Family Law

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Sterling Lawyers, LLC

4.6 out of 5
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Arlington Heights Military Divorce Lawyers Attorneys at Sterling Lawyers, LLC

Samantha Witting

Based on 1 Client Reviews

Are you ready to move forward? Call (312) 757-8082 to schedule a strategy session with one of our attorneys.

About Sterling Lawyers in Arlington Heights

If you or your spouse serves in the military, your divorce runs on two sets of rules at once. Illinois law decides the divorce itself, parenting, support, and how property is divided. Federal law adds its own layer: how military retired pay can be divided and paid, what happens when a service member cannot appear because of duty, and how survivor benefits are protected. Mistakes on the federal pieces can be hard or impossible to fix later.

Our Arlington Heights divorce lawyers handle military divorces from our Salt Creek Lane office for active-duty members, reservists and Guard members, and their spouses. That includes planning the case around deployment and training schedules, requesting or responding to a stay under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, building a parenting plan that accounts for deployment, and drafting retired-pay and survivor-benefit language the Defense Finance and Accounting Service can actually process. Arlington Heights cases are heard in Cook County.

For the full statewide picture, start with military divorce in Illinois.

Why Arlington Heights Clients Choose Sterling Lawyers

Fixed Fees, Quoted Before You Sign

This is what most people call about, so here it is plainly. We do not bill by the hour. Before you sign anything, you get a fixed fee quoted for your case, and research, phone calls, emails, the drive to court, and the time your attorney spends on your file are covered by it.

That matters in a military case, because questions do not arrive on a civilian schedule. When you are on a different time zone or between training days and need a quick answer by email, asking does not add to your bill. Our Illinois pricing page shows how our paths are priced, and we walk you through what your quote includes before you commit.

Family Law Is the Only Thing We Practice

No real estate closings, no estate plans, no criminal defense. Divorce, parenting, support, and property cases are all we do. In a military divorce, that shows up in the details that decide what actually gets paid: dividing disposable retired pay rather than gross, the part of retired pay a veteran may waive for VA disability, and the pay grade and years of service the order has to lock in at the time of divorce.

Straight Answers, Including the Hard Ones

If the pension share you are expecting is not something the government will pay you directly, we will tell you, along with how the rest gets paid. If deployment is going to change what a workable parenting schedule looks like, we will say so before you agree to one that falls apart at the first set of orders.

We also match the path to the situation. If the two of you mostly agree, an uncontested or mediated path costs less than a contested trial. If you do not agree, we prepare the case for a judge. And if you would rather handle the case yourself with an attorney checking your work, our Legal Coaching path is built for that.

Talk to an Arlington Heights Military Divorce Lawyer

Whether you are serving, recently separated from service, or married to someone who is, the first conversation is about your timeline, your orders, and what the retired-pay picture really looks like. Book a consultation with Sterling Lawyers and we will match you with an attorney from this office.

Are you ready to move forward? Call (312) 757-8082 to schedule a strategy session with one of our attorneys.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an Illinois court divide my spouse’s military pension?

Yes. Federal law lets a state court treat a service member’s disposable retired pay as property under the state’s own law, and how large a share to award is a question of Illinois law.^[1] The so-called 10/10 rule is a separate issue. It controls only whether the Defense Finance and Accounting Service pays the former spouse directly, which requires at least 10 years of marriage overlapping at least 10 years of creditable service. If the marriage falls short, a court can still award a share, but the service member pays it instead of the government. The government also will not pay more than 50% of disposable retired pay under these court orders. And for a member who had not yet retired at the time of a divorce entered after December 23, 2016, the divisible amount is generally based on the member’s pay and years of service at the divorce, not at retirement.

What happens to retired pay that is waived for VA disability?

It is not divisible. Federal law excludes retired pay a veteran waives to receive VA disability compensation from the disposable retired pay a court can divide, and the U.S. Supreme Court has held that a state court cannot treat that waived pay as divisible property.^[2] If a service member has a disability rating or a claim pending, that needs to be part of the conversation before any agreement on the pension is signed.

What if my spouse is deployed or on active duty?

A service member whose military duty materially affects their ability to appear can ask the court to pause the case. If the request includes a statement of how duty affects their ability to appear, a date they will be available, and a letter from their commanding officer that duty prevents appearance and leave is not authorized, the court must stay the case for at least 90 days, and additional stays can be requested.^[3] Deployment also shows up in parenting. When the court allocates parenting time, one factor it can weigh is the terms of a deploying parent’s military family-care plan.^[4]

Can I hire an Arlington Heights lawyer if my spouse is stationed somewhere else?

Yes. Where the divorce is filed and whether a court can divide military retired pay are separate questions. Federal law lets a state court divide retired pay only if the service member lives there for reasons other than a military assignment, is domiciled there, or consents to the court’s jurisdiction, so the right court depends on where each of you lives and is domiciled. We sort that out before anything is filed, because a judgment from the wrong court may not reach the pension at all.

What about military survivor benefits?

A divorce judgment can require a service member to elect former-spouse coverage under the Survivor Benefit Plan. If the member does not make the election, the former spouse can ask the government to treat it as made, but that request must be received within one year of the court order.^[5] Miss that window and the coverage can be lost even though the judgment ordered it, so the deadline belongs on the calendar the day the judgment is entered.