European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 30, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                April 1985 the stars and stripes paged ending a marriage is Complex task this is the second of four stories on Law and the tomorrows Story focuses on the sol diers1 and sailors Relief act of 1940 and thursdays on landlord tenant by Chris Estes staff writer Frankfurt military couples separating or divorcing face a Long and complicated Legal according to a v corps Legal assistance varying states requirements for child support and child custody and the dependents military benefits status after separation or divorce can cause Russell a Legal assistance officer in the v corps staff judge advocates said maybe 35 to 45 percent of what we do is related to the Domestic and by that i would in clude such things Aspa eternity the general dependent of course this includes the bigger issues of separation and i Wolff said Legal assist Ance offices will help clients Contact a civilian lawyer in their state of he said that both members of a couple getting a divorce must be represented by and the attorneys must be from different that Means a Legal assistance office can represent Only one the other must go to another Legal assistance Legal assistance officers cannot actually divorce Cou according to what Legal assistance offices can do is draft separation representing one member of the and help Contact divorce lawyers in a persons state of Wolff said a separation agreement is a con tract in which both parties enter to Divide All personal arid real property and decide on child custody and visitation make arrangements for child sup port and Alimony and Settle any other Issue they consider important to their debts Are also divid he they want something in writing that confirms the terms under which they will be living Wolff the advantage of that is in the event that one of the parties does file for they have essentially drafted a property if the parties do decide to the marriage itself has not been to get a separation Wolff one Mem ber of the couple drafts the agreement with the help of a Legal assistance the other person is urged to get a but May sign the separation agreement without according to a service member is required to support dependents during unless there is an amount named in the separation agreement or a court order to pay a certain the army requires the Soldier to pay an amount equal to his quarters allowance with dependents whether or not he receives the the Navy and marines require a certain proportion of the members pay the air Force requires dependent support but decides the amount on a Caseb Case Wolff Wolff added that most service members getting divorced wont have to pay a courts going to Issue Alimony depending on the other individuals ability to support he if you have two Young people whole been mar ried a couple of years and they get the courts going to say you have a healthy employable woman or Man the other party certainly int going to be required to pay the spouse remains a dependent during a and keeps his or her identification some benefits Are entitle ment to quarters is lost if the service member moves into the the spouse then has 45 Days extendable to be out of the a spouse will lose a dependent hire after the spouse loses the identification and the children will be issued cards at age if the children Are under 10 years old the spouse can generally get an id card in the Childs name to buy items such As the spouse cant Purchase items with an id card in a Childs name unless the article is for the child things such As adult clothing Are state divorce Laws Columbia North Carolina this Chart shows each states and the District of co Lambias divorce to use the find your state of residence and each Dot indicates the states Law in that for in the amount of Wolff said getting a divorce is technically possible in the Issue in any divorce proceeding is whether or not the court has any jurisdiction to Grant a he you simply cant go into a court anywhere in the United states or the world and have them Issue a divorce there has to be a specific relationship with that court and the parties at least with the Petitioner filing for the for a German court to take either one of the parties has to be a German citizen or the couple have to be residents of service members stationed Here qualify As residents under German Wolff said the decree has to be recognizable by the Home state of the service member filing for the again the Issue is usually and the states requirements have to be even if the couple is divorcing the difficulty of enforcing a foreign courts decree for child support or Alimony in the United states is a major drawback to getting divorced in Wolff getting divorced in Europe is also Alimony is affected by which partner is at fault in the and the Alimony can be changed later if the spouse enters into open the n indicates that there is no provision for dividing marital More he another he is Germany requirement that divorcing couples must be separated a every state has different requirements for Wolff most states have no fault mean ing the marriage can be dissolved on grounds other than spouse adultery or this Type of divorce is for couples who simply do not get Wolff if child custody is a matter of Contention and the spouse is in the the service member will have to return to appear in the Case can be delayed under the soldiers and sailors civil Relief act if travelling to the states causes the service member a severe a separation can be drawn up quickly if the couple is in Wolff divorces do not Hap pen Wolfff said that in an uncontested if the individual already has an attorney in the de pending on the state we can conceivably have a court Date established within six