If an active service member dies before retirement, is their ex-spouse covered under the Survivor Benefit Plan?

Only if they’re named as a survivor beneficiary – but they are not going to receive any of their other benefits like life insurance and the automatic death benefits that would normally be paid to a spouse, because they are not the spouse and those are not divisible in divorce.

Carolyn Grimes is a family lawyer at the law firm of Wade Grimes Friedman Sutter & Leischner PLLC in Alexandria, Virginia. To learn more about Grimes and her firm, visit www.oldtownlawyers.com.