After Divorce, 'Military Pension' Division... Court States "Basic Conditions for Pension Receipt Must Be Met"

Court: "Payment Not Allowed Solely by Property Division Agreement or Judgment... Conditions Must Be Met"

Even if there is an agreement to divide the retirement pension in the form of an annuity during the divorce process with a retired military spouse, a court ruling has stated that if the basic conditions for the right to receive a divided military pension are not met, the pension cannot be paid.

The Administrative Court of Seoul, Administrative Division 4 (Chief Judge Kim Jeong-jung) announced on the 18th that it dismissed Mr. A's claim to cancel the disapproval of his request for divided payment of retirement pension against the Military Finance Management Corps.

Mr. A divorced Mr. B, a military officer, on January 9, 2020, through a court mediation. The mediation clause included the content that "the plaintiff (Mr. A) shall receive divided payments of the defendant's (Mr. B's) retirement pension according to future procedures." Based on this clause, Mr. A requested the Military Finance Management Corps for divided payment of the retirement pension in October last year, but the request was denied.

The Management Corps issued a disapproval, stating that the divided payment of retirement pension applies only to cases of divorce after the enforcement of the amended Military Pension Act. The amended Military Pension Act came into effect on June 11, 2020. According to the amended Military Pension Act, a person whose marriage period during the spouse's military service is five years or longer can receive a certain portion of the retirement pension divided after divorce if the former spouse meets the eligibility requirements for receiving the retirement pension. However, this is only possible if the divorce occurred after the amendment took effect.

The court sided with the Management Corps. The bench ruled, "The amended Military Pension Act does not mean that one can receive divided retirement pension payments solely based on an agreement or judgment to divide the retirement pension regardless of the prescribed conditions for payment. Rather, it means that if the payment conditions stipulated in the relevant provisions are met and, barring special circumstances, one is entitled to receive the divided pension equally, then if there is an agreement or judgment to vary the ratio, the payment shall be made according to that agreement or judgment."