Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
division of military retirement pay
My spouse and I were divorced in 1996. An agreement was entered in the final judgement of divorce to include a statement as follows: The wife will receive from the husband 27.5% of the husbands military retirement at the time he is retired from active duty.
He filed a clarification after I have received payment for 15 mths requesting the amount be changed to reflect 20 years only, not the 26.5 years he had completed. The judge allow this and I was unable to appeal due to a lack of transcript. It was my understanding that a division of property could not be modified unless there was ambiguity in the statement. It was very clear, yet the judge change it and ''added'' wording to include the rank of E7 and 20 years retirement. I feel that I was not given a fair trial. I wasn't able to say anything due to my lawyer's confidence that the law is the law and the judge was not supposed to change the original decree with a modification to the assets. Is there anything I can do at this point?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: division of military retirement pay
Many people make the mistake of failing to have a court reporter present at important hearings, then learn that they cannot appeal due to lack of a transcript. However, it's often possible to appeal even without a transcript. You should consult with one or two other lawyers to see if it's possible to appeal without a transcript. If not, there is nothing you can do.
You should speak to lawyers quickly, though, because the time limit to appeal is very short.
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