Divorce In California
Picture this: the judge signs your divorce judgment, you walk out of the Santa Monica courthouse feeling half free, half terrified, and the very next morning the gate guard confiscates your military ID. Sounds harsh, but it happens every day because California family courts do not control federal benefits.
Whether you keep that precious card depends on three strict federal rules, not on anything your divorce lawyer wrote into the settlement. Understanding the 20/20/20 and 20/20/15 rules before you sign papers can save you thousands in civilian medical premiums and base privileges.
The 20/20/20 Rule Lifetime Gold Card
- Twenty years of marriage that overlap twenty years of creditable service and twenty years of overlap
- Former spouse keeps full TRICARE, commissary, exchange, and MWR access for life
- ID card marked “INDEF” with no expiration other than remarriage or loss of eligibility
If you hit the trifecta, congratulations, the ID is yours forever unless you remarry or the service member dies and you opt for the Survivor Benefit Plan annuity instead. We run a point statement against your marriage certificate the day you hire us so there are no ugly surprises at the final hearing. Last year we saved one client $42,000 in projected medical costs by pushing the divorce date back three weeks to hit the twentieth anniversary.
The 20/20/15 Rule One Year Bridge
When the overlap is at least fifteen but less than twenty years, you keep TRICARE for only twelve months after the divorce is final. The ID card will carry an expiration date exactly one year from the judgment, and you cannot renew it unless Congress changes the law. You do keep commissary and exchange privileges during that year, so shop while you can.
After month twelve you transition to the Continued Health Care Benefit Program, a pricey but temporary option that extends medical coverage for another eighteen months if you pay the full premium.
We always build the health care transition cost into spousal support negotiations so the receiving spouse is not blindsided by a $1,800 monthly premium. And we calendar the one year mark to send a reminder that it is time to find civilian insurance or employer coverage.
What Happens If You Miss Both Rules
If your overlap is under fifteen years, the ID must be surrendered immediately upon final judgment. The service member is required to notify the ID card facility within thirty days, and DEERS will deactivate your benefits overnight.
You will need to purchase civilian health insurance, and base access becomes limited to escorted visits with your children. There is no judge in California who can override federal law, so do not waste legal fees asking for continued privileges in your settlement.
However, you can negotiate for the service member to maintain SBP coverage or to cash you out for the lost medical value, which is exactly what we did for a client whose marriage fell seventeen days short of 20/20/15. We secured an extra $25,000 lump sum to offset eighteen months of COBRA, a figure the court accepted because we presented actuarial data, not emotion.
Bottom line: count the overlap months before you file, not after. Bring your marriage certificate and your spouse’s point statement to our free consult and we will run the numbers in ten minutes so you know exactly what that little plastic card is worth and how to protect it.
