[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2537 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2537

To amend title 10, United States Code, to revise the rules relating to 
 the court-ordered apportionment of the retired pay of members of the 
        Armed Forces to former spouses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 24, 1997

  Mr. Stump introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on National Security, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to revise the rules relating to 
 the court-ordered apportionment of the retired pay of members of the 
        Armed Forces to former spouses, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Uniformed Services Former Spouses 
Equity Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF PAYMENTS UPON REMARRIAGE OF FORMER SPOUSE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1408(c) of title 10, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(5) Payment from the monthly disposable retired pay of a member 
to a former spouse of the member pursuant to this section shall 
terminate upon the remarriage of that former spouse, except to the 
extent that the amount of such payment includes an amount other than an 
amount resulting from the treatment by the court under paragraph (1) of 
disposable retired pay of the member as property of the member or 
property of the member and his spouse. Any such termination shall be 
effective as of the last day of the month in which the remarriage 
occurs.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to marriages terminated by court orders issued 
before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. In the case 
of such a court order issued before the date of the enactment of this 
Act, such amendment shall apply only with respect to amounts of a 
member's retired pay that are payable for months beginning more than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. AWARD OF RETIRED PAY TO BE BASED ON RETIREE'S LENGTH OF SERVICE 
              AND PAY GRADE AT TIME OF DIVORCE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1408(c) of title 10, United States Code, 
as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
    ``(6) In the case of a member as to whom a final decree of divorce, 
dissolution, annulment, or legal separation is issued before the date 
on which the member begins to receive retired pay, the disposable 
retired pay of the member that a court may treat in the manner 
described in paragraph (1) shall be computed based on the pay grade, 
and the length of service of the member while married, that are 
creditable toward entitlement to basic pay and to retired pay as of the 
date of the final decree. Amounts so calculated shall be increased by 
the cumulative percentage of increases in retired pay between the date 
of the final decree and the effective date of the member's 
retirement.''.
    (b) Implementation.--With respect to payments to a former spouse 
from a member's disposable retired pay pursuant to court orders issued 
before the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
            (1) within 90 days of such date, recompute the amounts of 
        those payments in accordance with paragraph (5) of section 
        1408(c) of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection 
        (a); and
            (2) within 180 days of such date, adjust the amount of 
        disposable retired pay payable to that former spouse 
        accordingly.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to court orders issued on or after June 25, 1981.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON TIME FOR SEEKING DIVISION OF RETIRED PAY.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (c)(4) of section 1408 of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(4) A court may not after the date of the enactment of the 
Uniformed Services Former Spouses Equity Act of 1997 treat the 
disposable retired pay of a member in the manner described in paragraph 
(1) unless--
            ``(A) the court has jurisdiction over the member by reason 
        of (i) the member's residence, other than because of military 
        assignment, in the territorial jurisdiction of the court, (ii) 
        the member's domicile in the territorial jurisdiction of the 
        court, or (iii) the member's consent to the jurisdiction of the 
        court; and
            ``(B) the member's spouse or former spouse obtains a court 
        order for apportionment of the retired pay of the member not 
        later than (i) two years after the date of final decree of 
        divorce, dissolution, annulment, or legal separation, including 
        a court ordered, ratified, or approved property settlement 
        incident to such a decree, or (ii) the end of the six-month 
        period beginning on the date of the enactment of the Uniformed 
        Services Former Spouses Equity Act of 1997, whichever is 
        later.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to final decrees of divorce, dissolution, annulment, 
or legal separation issued on or after June 25, 1981.

SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON APPORTIONMENT OF DISABILITY PAY WHEN RETIRED PAY 
              HAS BEEN WAIVED.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (e)(4) of section 1408 of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph:
    ``(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a court may not 
treat as part of the disposable retired pay of a member under this 
section or as part of amounts to be paid pursuant to legal processes 
under section 459 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 659) amounts 
which are deducted from the retired pay of such member as a result of a 
waiver of retired pay required by law in order to receive compensation 
under title 38.''.
    (b) Amendments to Social Security Act.--Section 459(h) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 659(h)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii)--
                    (A) by inserting ``or'' at the end of subclause 
                (III);
                    (B) by striking out ``or'' at the end of subclause 
                (IV) and inserting in lieu thereof ``and''; and
                    (C) by striking out subclause (V); and
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and (F) as 
                subparagraphs (F) and (G), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the 
                following new subparagraph:
                    ``(E) are paid by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
                as compensation for a service-connected disability 
                under title 38, United States Code, when military 
                retired pay has been waived in order to receive such 
                compensation;''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
shall apply to court orders and legal processes issued on or after June 
25, 1981. In the case of a court order or legal process issued before 
the date of the enactment of this Act, such amendments shall apply only 
with respect to retired pay payable for months beginning on or after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>