Military Divorce Lawyer
Your spouse just got orders to PCS across the country and handed you divorce papers the same day. You’re staring at a calendar that starts ticking toward jurisdictional deadlines, a deployment calendar that could move your hearing date, and a Google search bar that keeps auto filling “cheap divorce lawyer near me.” Take a breath.
Picking the right California military divorce attorney doesn’t have to take weeks. In fact, if you know the exact filters to apply, you can shorten the process to forty eight hours without sacrificing quality. The trick is to ignore the billboards and focus on three non negotiables that matter in a military split: verified experience with DFAS, a record of contested custody wins when one parent is deployed, and the ability to start your case before the service member ships out. Everything else is noise.
Filter One: Prove They Speak DFAS
Any lawyer can say “I handle military pensions.” You want proof. Ask for a copy of the last military pension division order they drafted. If they can’t produce one in thirty seconds, hang up. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service rejects orders that mislabel cost of living adjustments, forget survivor benefit language, or use the wrong retirement point base.
A rejected order adds months to your case and legal fees you didn’t budget for. While you’re at it, ask how many times their pension orders have been returned for correction. A good military divorce attorney keeps that number under five percent. And dont accept “we let the paralegal handle DFAS” as an answer. You are paying for the lawyer’s signature, not a junior staffer’s crash course in federal benefits.
Filter Two: Demand Deployment Custody Wins
Civilian courts love standard parenting plans that alternate weekends. Those templates implode when one parent is in Bahrain for nine months. Ask the attorney to describe the last time they obtained a temporary custody order that survived a contested deployment. Listen for phrases like “virtual visitation schedule,” “step up plan,” and “military care plan incorporated into the judgment.”
If they stare back blankly, move on. California Family Code 3047 gives the deploying parent the right to request an expedited hearing, but the statute only helps if your lawyer has the forms saved in their practice management system ready to file the same day. And yes, that really happens… we filed one last Tuesday at 3 p.m. while our client was on the tarmac at LAX.
Filter Three: Speed to File
Military divorce timelines are cruel. A service member can gain California residency in one day, file for divorce the next, and leave the state before you even hire counsel. You need an attorney who can draft the response, request temporary orders, and serve the opposing side within the nine day DFAS window.
That means they keep blank pleadings loaded in their cloud, they have a process server on retainer, and they answer their own phone after 5 p.m. because they know deployments don’t wait for business hours. Ask them point blank: “If I retain you tonight, what time tomorrow will my response be on file?” Anything later than noon is too late.
Red Flags to Cross Off Your List Today
- They can’t name the three DFAS payment centers
- Their website only lists “family law” with no military subpage
- They promise to “figure out” the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act later
- They’ve never argued a custody case by video hearing
- They ask you to fill out a generic intake form that doesn’t mention branch of service
Still comparing three star reviews? Stop. The clock is running, and California has a six month minimum residency requirement that can bite you if your spouse files first in another state.
We keep DFAS compliant templates on standby, we have argued custody hearings by video from three continents, and we answer calls until 8 p.m. every weekday. Book a free 30 minute strategy call right now and walk into tomorrow knowing your case is already moving.
