Diane Merrill v. Robert Kenneth Merrill

Justice TIMMER,

opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Federal law prohibits courts in marital dissolution proceedings from dividing any portion of military retirement pay (“MRP”) waived by a retired veteran to receive Combat-Related Special Compensation (“CRSC”) benefits pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 1413a. Arizona law prohibits courts from “making up” for the resulting reduction in MRP by awarding additional assets to the non-military ex-spouse. A.R.S. § 25-318.01. We recently held that neither federal law nór § 25-318.01 precludes the family court from ordering a retired veteran to indemnify an ex-spouse for a…