Dividing Military Retirement in Divorce: USFSPA Orders, Disability Waivers, and Survivor Benefits

Steven P. Shewmaker, Founding Partner | Shewmaker & Lewis

Steven P. Shewmaker handles military domestic matters and the division of retirement accounts incident to divorce, including military pensions, FERS, and Thrift Savings Plan accounts, as a founding partner of Shewmaker & Lewis in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. He brings more than twenty years of military service to that work and continues to serve as an Army Reserve Judge Advocate.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Shewmaker graduated from the University of Alabama in 1990 as a Distinguished Military Graduate, having attended on cross country and Army ROTC scholarships. He earned his law degree with honors from Georgia State University College of Law. He is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the United States District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia.

• Recognition & Leadership

He received the Bronze Star Medal for his 2003–2004 service in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a member of the Class of 2013 of Leadership DeKalb and serves as an assistant trial coach for the Tucker High School Mock Trial Team.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Shewmaker serves on the executive committee of the Military and Veterans Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and is a member of the Bar’s Family Law and Criminal Law Sections. He is Treasurer of the DeKalb Family Law Section and a member of the American Bar Association and the DeKalb Bar Association.

• Experience

Commissioned as an active duty Army officer in 1990, Mr. Shewmaker served as an Infantry Officer with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and in Military Intelligence assignments with III U.S. Armored Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, before his activation for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In practice, he concentrates on military domestic matters, multi-jurisdictional domestic cases, and the division of retirement accounts incident to divorce, including military pensions, FERS, and TSP accounts. His family law work also includes contested child custody, complex asset division, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and modifications of custody, alimony, and child support. A former prosecutor, he also handles criminal defense matters in state, superior, federal, and military courts.

Patricia Shewmaker, Managing Partner | Shewmaker & Lewis

Patricia (Patty) Shewmaker represents many military service members in family law matters and specializes in dividing qualified retirement plans incident to divorce and legal separation, including military pensions, pensions under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), Thrift Savings Plans (TSPs), private pensions, and 401(k)s. A West Point graduate and Bronze Star Medal recipient, she practices with Shewmaker & Lewis in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Shewmaker earned a Bachelor of Science in political science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in Military Intelligence. She earned her law degree with honors from Georgia State University College of Law. She is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the United States District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia.

• Recognition & Leadership

She received the Bronze Star Medal for her service in a combat theater of operations and is a member of the Class of 2012 of Leadership DeKalb.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Shewmaker serves on the executive committee of the Military and Veterans Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and is a member of its Family Law Section. She is also a member of the American Bar Association and the DeKalb Bar Association.

• Experience

Ms. Shewmaker served seven years on active duty in the United States Army and three years in the Georgia Army National Guard, deploying as Company Commander of a Counterintelligence Company in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In practice, she represents military service members in family law matters and divides qualified retirement plans incident to divorce and legal separation. Her practice extends to divorce litigation, modification of custody, alimony and child support, contempt actions, legitimations, and paternity suits. She also handles cross-jurisdictional family law litigation spanning multiple states and foreign countries, working within the jurisdictional requirements of the UCCJEA and the UFSA.

SESSION 1 – Drafting Military Retired Pay Division Orders That DFAS Will Accept | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session teaches family law attorneys how to draft military retired pay division orders that will pass DFAS technical review and result in direct payments to former spouses. Attorneys will learn the specific data elements, jurisdictional findings, award formulas, and statutory requirements — including the Frozen Benefit Rule under 10 U.S.C. § 1408(a)(4)(B) — that determine whether DFAS accepts or rejects an order. Attendees leave with a working knowledge of DFAS submission mechanics, common rejection patterns, and the drafting traps that create malpractice exposure.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Protecting the Pension Share from Disability Waivers and Securing Survivor Benefit Coverage | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

This session examines how VA disability waivers shrink the former spouse’s share of military retired pay under Mansell v. Mansell and Howell v. Howell, the emerging divisibility of Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) following DFAS’s February 2026 regulatory reversal, and the strict one-year deadlines and deemed election mechanics governing Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) coverage. Attorneys will learn to identify when a retiree’s disability election has eroded a court-ordered pension share, what compensatory remedies remain available post-Howell, and how to secure and preserve SBP coverage for a former spouse. By the end of the session, attorneys will be able to draft protective SBP language, calendar critical filing deadlines, and counsel clients on CRDP divisibility in light of ongoing DFAS implementation uncertainty.