California Bill Launched to Protect Disbursement of Disabled Veterans' Benefits Compensation

The California Alliance for Families and Children is thrilled that nearly 10 months of work have resulted in the introduction of a bill in the California Legislature that will uphold existing federal law (USC, Title 38, Section 5301) governing third party disbursement of disabled veterans’ benefits compensation. Although the United States Code is very clear in its wording and intent, civil court judges nationwide have routinely ignored federal law and calculated veterans’ disability compensation into divorce settlements as a divisible asset or income. And it’s just not men; disabled female veterans are also experiencing this problem when they get divorced or declare bankruptcy.     

CAFC’s Executive Director, Michael Robinson, first became aware of the issue mid-year in 2008, after hearing from other veteran groups about the problem, and we’ve been working to correct this issue in California ever since. Though CAFC spearheaded the issue in California, we asked one of the veterans groups with whom we’ve had a long association, the American Retirees Association (ARA), to make the formal request to Senator Wright’s office to be the bill’s official sponsor. The bill, SB 285, is being carried by California Senator Rod Wright.  You can learn more about the specifics of the bill and the US Code by reading the CAFC Fact Sheet or SB 285 author, Senator Rod Wright’s Fact Sheet.

SB 285 was originally written to amend a different family law code, but its author, Senator Wright, amended the bill on April 2, 2009, to specifically adddress the problem faced by disabled veterans. That same day, CAFC’s Michael Robinson was already scheduled to attend the California State Commanders Veterans Council (CSCVC) meeting. His attendance was requested by Dennis Egge, President of the ARA. The CSCVC is made up of representatives from 19 veterans groups and meets every six months. The purpose of the April 2, 2009, meeting was to review current California legislation affecting veterans. Robinson left the meeting with unanimous support from all 19 veterans groups to back SB 285. CAFC and CSCVC are organizing support letters and witnesses to testify before the committee hearings.

The plight of disabled veterans in family law proceedings is starting to become a national issue. As it happens, on the same day Senator Wright, the CAFC and the CSCVC took up the issue in California, a news story on the issue broke in Iowa on KWQC-TV6. You may also view part of the video broadcast by KWQC-TV6 for this story.

CAFC is acutely aware of the unfairness disabled veterans face, so we have once again taken a leading role to educate policy makers and the legal communities. We will share real stories of service men and women who have been impacted, and we will continue to provide data to demonstrate the seriousness of the legal problems facing our veterans (men and women) in the family courts.

As always, much more needs to be done. We are asking everyone who enjoys the protection and freedoms they have — because of these men and women who proudly served and sacrificed for our nation — to donate as much as possible so that CAFC can continue to help these service men and women and their families.