Does anyone know if DFAS is Y2K compliant. I am divorced from my former spouse who is a military retiree and I get 1/2 of his retirement. I want to know if I can continue to receive this benefit into 2000?

-- jj (J@j.j), October 06, 1999

Answers

I'm afraid that it could be more complicated than that. Do you receive checks or use direct deposit?

The Post Office, according to their Inspector General, is in fairly bad shape. Bad enough to cast doubt on their ability to carry out their "basic core functions" next year.

The electronics fund transfer could be affected by the status of the Treasury Department, the banks, and the telcos.

Sorry, I don't have good advice, and I don't say that any of those will be down for sure. They are just on the "guarded" list.

-- mushroom (mushroom_bs_too_long@yahoo.com), October 06, 1999.

They've been working on it a long time (have people supporting them). I got a notice from them with my retirement statement saying they were.

-- ng (cantprovideemail@none.com), October 06, 1999.

What is USFSPA, and why does she get 1/2 of her husbands retirement?

-- Bea (Bsmith@AOL.net), October 06, 1999.

USFSPA stands for Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act. It is USFSPA PL 97-252 Title 10 USC &1408 (c) (1). It is directed at retired military veterans. Basically it allows county and state judges in states that allow "no-fault" divorces to give former spouses of an honorably retired military retiree up to 50 percent of their military retirement pension.

For more information visit http://www.seacoast.com/~gordont/

-- Roger (RChristo@cs.net), October 06, 1999.

jj Sounds like a greedy parasite who will milk the system at the expense of her ex, as long as his lungs draw air. In theory, if a military retirees spouse is a lousy wife and mother, and abandons the marriage, she can still collect her "cash for life" lottery winnings per her ex's military retirement income for several decades after the divorce has been finalized, and the kids are older middle-aged adults pushing their own retirements. The former spouse can still collect this money even if they remarry as often as Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney combined! The USFSPA rules should be explained to every single young man or woman thinking about a military career. It is an insult to the men and women who have honorably served their country, only to be RIPPED OFF at retirement by liberal judges and blood sucking former spouses.

-- Ripped Off (worldis@fullof.them), October 06, 1999.

Ripped Off -

You sound a bit like a sore loser... There are some of those ex spouses that put up with YEARS of moving every 2 years, a spouse who had a sweetheart in every port, and spent the children's allowance on those "sweethearts", not to mention the gambling and "services" he paid for out of the food allowance, and she finally left after she got the kids through school. Well, pardon me from the other side of the fence, but she damn well earned her lousy 50% of his retirement. There are always two sides to every story and not all of them are on your side of the fence.

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.xnet), October 06, 1999.

Valkyrie, "You sound a bit like a sore loser"...Yes, I am a sore loser. I worked my ass off in the military, and was an excellent father, and tried to be a good husband. My former spouse turned out to be a less than mediocre mother to our children, and was a slut with a capital S. You think you "earned" your 50 percent. You didn't "earn" anything but my disrespect. So what if your former military retired husband was a lousy provider? That shouldn't entitle you to a lifetime of his hard earned military earnings. You are a parasital feminist PIG!, that is milking the system for all its worth. You absolute disgust me.

You picked up and moved every two years? Consider yourself lucky that you were able to see the world via Uncle Sam. There are millions of divorcees that have been stuck in the same nothing town all of their days, with spouses much worse than yours. Go to a support group sometime and hear the stories of physical abuse, and abandonment. The women there would hear your tales and think you lived the good life, compared with theirs. The difference is that their spouse didn't have what it takes to make a career out of the military and get retirement pay and benefits twenty plus years ahead of everyone else.

Thank God for organizations like WISE (Women in Search of Equity for Military in Divorce). I am involved in a writing campaign to veterans in every state in the Union, to get some positive action going to modify the USFSPA from being abused by bitches like the one you see every morning in the mirror.

-- Ripped Off (worldis@fullof.them), October 07, 1999.

Ripped off-

Maybe you were. As I said, there are two sides to every story. My ex-military husband divorced me to marry his little honey in Korea. That is fine with me, she will cow tow to his every whim. I did not take ANY of his retirement or alimony or anything else we bought except a stereo system although I will admit to $225 a month for the first 6 months while I found a job. I did however help a lot of wives thru the Navy Relief organization whose husband squandered pay checks on everything from gambling and "services" to cars they couldn't afford while the wife and kids were living on subsistance pay and trying to send money to keep him affloat in his craps games. As I said, maybe you were one of the good guys, but do not paint everyone with the same brush - particularly the red one you seem to want to color everyone with. Get over your anger and on with your life.

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.xnet), October 08, 1999.