Military Income In CA Divorce
Base pay is only the tip of the iceberg. Flight pay, submarine pay, hostile fire pay, uniform allowances, and even food allowances can add thousands to monthly income that never shows up on a standard pay stub.
When a service spouse decides to play hide and seek, civilian attorneys often stop at the first LES and leave huge dollars on the table. A military savvy lawyer knows how to subpoena the complete pay record, decode every entitlement, and present a support calculation that captures the full financial picture.
Discovery Tools That Expose Hidden Entitlements
- Subpoena the last three years of LES from DFAS, not just the most recent one
- Request MyPay login screenshots showing saved pay statements
- Demand travel voucher history to capture per diem that sometimes sits in personal accounts
- Obtain command orders that prove special duty pay like HALO or language proficiency
We recently uncovered $1,900 monthly in aviation career incentive pay that the husband “forgot” to disclose. Over fifteen years that added $342,000 to the community estate and increased monthly child support by $570.
Forensic Tracing Of Side Accounts
Many service members route incentive pays to separate checking accounts or even the Servicemembers Group Life Insurance dividend account. We run a forensic spreadsheet that matches gross LES income to bank deposits; any gap triggers a demand for additional statements. If the numbers still do not reconcile, we subpoena the Armed Forces Bank or Navy Federal for all accounts tied to the social security number.
And we look for off book income such as tutoring on base, Uber driving during gate closure, or online resale of issued gear. These streams are small individually but can swing support calculations when aggregated.
Sanctions And Reallocation
California Family Code 2107 allows the court to award 100 percent of any hidden asset to the innocent spouse. We routinely request these sanctions when the omission exceeds $10,000. Judges dislike liars, especially when federal pay records make the lie easy to prove. In one case the court gave the wife the entire $85,000 TSP balance after the husband failed to list a reenlistment bonus that was clearly printed on his LES.
We also request attorney fees under Family Code 271 because the extra discovery forced unnecessary litigation. The threat of fee shifting often prompts a quick settlement increase before trial.
Feel like the numbers do not add up? Bring your LES and bank statements to our free audit and we will run a line by line comparison that shows exactly how much income is missing and how to get your fair share back into the settlement column.
