Thorpe v. Thorpe

Robert Thorpe appeals an order requiring him to pay twenty-five percent of his retirement pay to his ex-wife, Pansy, beginning July, 1981. The Thorpes’ 1977 judgment of divorce awarded Pansy twenty-five percent of Robert’s military pension proceeds “as they are paid.” The circuit court set aside the award pursuant to the June 26, 1981, decision of McCarty v. McCarty, 453 U.S. 210 (1981), but later reinstated the award under the 1982 Uniform Services Former Spouses Protection Act, 10 U.S.C. § 1408 (c) (1) (1983).

Robert argues that the circuit court lacked authority to modify the property…