## Facts

- Elsie and Edward Grier divorced in Texas in 1975 while Edward was a U.S. Army major.
- The 1975 divorce decree did not divide Edward’s military retirement benefits because they were not treated as divisible community property at that time.
- Edward was promoted to lieutenant colonel about eight months after the divorce and did not become entitled to the increased pay and retirement benefits until after the divorce.
- After later legal changes allowing division of military retirement, Elsie sought a post-divorce partition of Edward’s military retirement benefits.
- A Texas trial court held the retirement benefits were community property subject to partition and awarded Elsie a 37.45% interest in Edward’s future gross retirement benefits calculated using lieutenant-colonel pay.
- The court of appeals reversed, awarding Elsie 37.45% of Edward’s disposable retired pay calculated as if he had retired as a major on the divorce date.
- The Texas Supreme Court reviewed and issued a substituted opinion on rehearing.

## Issues

1. Whether the community share of military retirement benefits must be valued as of the divorce date (major) or may reflect post-divorce increases from promotion (lieutenant colonel).
2. Whether the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act (USFSPA) limits a state court’s ability to characterize and apportion military retired pay as community property, as opposed to limiting only federal payment/garnishment.

## Decision

- The court held the community interest must be valued as of the date of divorce; valuing Elsie’s share using Edward’s post-divorce lieutenant-colonel rank would improperly award her Edward’s separate property.
- The court held the USFSPA does not cap the amount of military retired pay a state court may characterize and apportion as community property; it limits only what the federal government will pay directly (e.g., through garnishment).
- The court affirmed the court of appeals’ judgment as modified, leaving Elsie with a 37.45% interest valued at major-level retirement as of the divorce date.

## Legal Principles

- In Texas, the community’s interest in retirement benefits is determined and valued at the time of divorce; post-divorce increases attributable to promotions or additional service are the employee-spouse’s separate property.
- A division based on post-divorce rank increases impermissibly invades separate property.
- The USFSPA’s “disposable retired pay” framework and percentage limitations function as federal payment/garnishment limits, not as substantive limits on state community-property characterization or apportionment.

## Conclusion

The court fixed the former spouse’s share of military retirement benefits at the divorce-date value (major rank) and clarified that USFSPA restricts only direct federal payment mechanisms, not Texas’s authority to characterize and allocate the community interest in retired pay.


Grier v. Grier, 731 S.W.2d 931 (Tex. 1987)