modify the law giving spouses of military members 50% of retirement plan in cases of adultery, abandonment or cruelty.

Curent Federal law gives spouses of military members 50% of members retirement pay as long as the marriage lasted 10 years. Many state laws allow the allocation of portions of members retirement to be divided in case of divorce in marriages less than 10 yrs. The law should be modified to make exceptions for spouses who commit adultery, abandon the marriage, or commit acts of cruelty such as domestic abuse. This provide spouses incentives to maintain the marriage for financial gain and is detrimental to the morale of members in these circumstances. Many spouses will drag out proceedings in order to cross the 10yr mark for this reason. In cases such as these, the military member is in essence forced to pay a spouse for the offence againt them that may have led to the divorce initially.