(0:00 – 0:13)
Welcome to Family Law Matters. I’m Dr. Michael Mantell, privileged to be joining Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel, owner and managing partner of the Primus Family Law Group. Hi, Bonnie.

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Hi, Michael, how are you doing today? Very well, thank you. Bonnie, interesting topic. We read about war, we read about high crime rates, and I know that you oftentimes are representing the men and women in the military and in law enforcement.

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And as you know, I’ve been the chief psychologist for the San Diego Police Department and many other law enforcement agencies during my career. We understand the pressures on people who put their lives on the line, especially today in the military. So I’m curious, these men and women put their lives out there and now it’s time for divorce.

(1:06 – 1:45)
And they begin to wonder, wait a minute, why am I sharing what I’m getting when I’m being shot at and I’m putting my life out there? It’s not fair. What’s your experience with that? We do get a lot of military and first responders, police, firemen, who feel it is unfair that they would have to share their retirement when it’s their putting their life on the line that created that retirement. And unfortunately in California, the court says tough.

(1:45 – 2:02)
I mean, I know that sounds very blunt, but that’s what it is. You are absolutely right. All of you first responders are the ones that put your life on the line while your spouse stayed home and did whatever your spouse did, be it raising children or going to work in a regular job or not.

(2:03 – 2:32)
And they are still entitled to half of the community portion of your retirement and a good portion of your non-taxable pays. Because Michael, a lot of these first responders as I’ll call them, they get non-taxable benefits, hazard pay for the military, BAS, BAH, housing allowance, food allowance. Those are all non-taxable.

(2:32 – 2:59)
So you can imagine when you put in to the support calculator, non-taxable income. Income they do not have to report to the IRS at all gets hugely impacted on what they’re gonna pay in support. And then when it comes to sharing their retirement, they have to understand that in California, it’s a 50-50 state.

(2:59 – 3:30)
So if you’ve been here for long enough to accrue the benefits of retirement, your spouse stayed home and raised children, that’s also a job, or they did what they needed to do, but they’re still entitled to that share. And at Primus, we do a really good job of managing that understanding, because believe it or not, especially in the military, they have attorneys there and they are often wrong. They often tell their members, oh, your taxable income doesn’t count.

(3:31 – 3:53)
And so we get potential clients that are all up in arms. Wait a minute, I was told by JAG, and we have to say, well, JAG doesn’t practice in family court. So unfortunately- What happens when the husband and wife are both in the military, as may happen? Sure.

(3:53 – 4:16)
You meet in the military, they’re both serving, they’re both at the front lines, and now they divorce. How does, and they’re making the same money, I assume, essentially. Well, if they’re the same rank and they’re making the same money, because it’s all about that, then, and they’ve been in the same amount of time, then that may be everybody keeps their own because there’s no differential.

(4:16 – 4:43)
But there could still be a differential if wife is at a higher rank than husband, then we work out what is the difference and divide the difference. Very interesting. If people have questions from the military or first responders, law enforcement, firefighters, how can they be in touch with you for a free consultation? Well, they can reach us at 619-574-8000.

(4:43 – 5:15)
We do offer a free 30 minute phone consultation, or they can reach us through the website at www.primusfamilylaw.com. There’s a handy form they can fill out there. As specialists who work with and support law enforcement, firefighters, and particularly the military, I would really encourage people in these professions to step up and reach out to you and get those questions answered. Bonnie, thanks for another Family Law Matters.

(5:15 – 5:23)
My pleasure. And we do offer a discount to our military members because we thank them for their service. You bet, you bet.

(5:24 – 5:25)
Thank you, Bonnie.