Must a veteran share his disability with his ex?

Dec. 20, 2006

Calvin Murphy fought one war in 1966, and now he is ready to fight another to keep his veteran’s disability benefits.
Murphy, a resident of Bear Lake who is in the middle of a divorce proceeding with his wife of 24 years, wants the court to declare his veteran’s disability monthly check off limits for alimony.
The case was supposed to have been heard last month. A dozen veterans had driven across the state to give their moral support to Murphy. However, 19th Circuit Judge James Batzer cancelled the hearing at the last minute, and it was rescheduled for December 19.
Meanwhile, the issue is gaining national attention, as veterans in several different states fight their own private court battles to keep their disability benefits. Murphy predicts one of these cases will make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, and he hopes it’s his own.
“I want to redefine Murphy’s law,” he joked. “My fight is if a man served his country and gets a pension for it, that disability is for them. And them only. There’s another vet in North Carolina. He’s an amputee from Vietnam. He’s been jailed for contempt because he refuses to pay. He lost a leg, and that’s what the check is for.”
Jere Beery, a veterans activist of Jefferson,Ohio, is leading the national fight on the issue. He was found in contempt of court in 2004 for refusing to pay court-ordered spousal support that was based o his disability payments. He said he was homeless at the time, making thejudgment even harder to take. Even now, he lives in the attic of a combat veteran’s home where he emails vets all over the country.
“Every week we hear from someone new,” he said. “So many veterans are intimidated into paying it (spousal support), but the jduge doesn’t have the authority to take a disabled person’s compensation and consider it as an asset in a divorce settlement. It’s the most ... I can’t even explain it. It’s very depressing.”

STRESS DISORDER
Murphy, 60, only served in Vietnam for five-and-a-half months, but the experience deeply scarred him. He still suffers from
post-traumatic stress disorder. (See accompanying article.)
The scars from war marred his first marriage and his second. His wife called it quits last year.
Murphy said he is fighting for his disability check not only for himself, but also on behalf of other vets who are coming home from Iraq and the Middle East. He remembers when people shunned him when he returned from Vietnam, and he wants returning vets to know that people care about them.
“When we came home, everyone turned their backs on us--the country, the public, everyone -- even the veterans in the VFW and the American Legion wouldn’t allow us membership. We were the disgrace. No one was there for us, but I’ll be damned sure someone is there for them.”
Murphy argues that ex-spouses should be exempt from receiving a share of their veteran disability benefits, as well as Social Security disability benefits if linked to a war injury, as in his case. He would not be opposed to giving his benefits to his children, but both his children are grown adults now.
“A lot of people don’t understand what veterans go through. When you come home with a disability, it’s that damn fight with the VA. You’re guilty until proven innocent. It’s so hard to get your benefits, then you gotta fight to keep them when you do get them,” he said.

WIFE ON DISABILITY
After a hearing in February, Judge
Batzer ordered him to pay a temporary alimony payment, which was based on his Social Security disability check, which he receives because of his war-related trauma. His wife is also on disability.
Murphy refused to pay the full amount and was sentenced to jail for 90 days for contempt of court. He had served several days when his pastor talked him into agreeing to the court-ordered payment. “He told me, ‘I see the stand you’re making, but you can’t fight them in here.’”
Since then, he and his attorney have given Judge Batzer copies of existing federal law and previous court decisions to review.
Wendy Divozzo, a family law attorney from Cadillac, has agreed to take the case pro bono. She did so, she said, because the ruling could have huge repercussions for vets across the country.
“This issue is not crystal clear that a veteran’s disability benefits should be his and his alone,” Divozzo says, “and I see this becoming a very big issue with all our people in Iraq and the Middle East. It hasn’t yet been addressed by the Michigan appellate courts, and it’s very important for veterans.”

INTERPRETING THE LAW
Divozzo will argue that federal law and two U.S. Supreme Court rulings state and or imply that disability payments may be assigned to a former spouse for the support of children, but that’s it. Federal law says that disability benefits are off limits to a third party - before or after the veteran receives them. And that law supercedes state law, she contends.
Divozzo added that the Michigan appellate courts have not directly addressed the issue and there is no case law directly on point on this issue in Michigan.
Connie Krusniak, who is representing Calvin’s wife, believes that both state and federal law are clear.
“The law across the country says that disability pay is for the benefit of the veteran and his family, and that’s backed by judges’ rulings. It is not exclusive to the individual who has actually served his country. Based on what prior courts have done, it is my opinion they are available for Mr. Murphy as well as his family.”
Krusniak said that the issue of assigning benefits to a third party addressed by federal law refers to creditors, such as credit card companies, but not to the veteran’s family.
WHAT ABOUT SPOUSE?
On ethical and moral grounds, one could argue that an ex-spouse deserves something after supporting the veteran through years of emotional upheavals, nightmares, depression, rehab, and physical handicaps.
“The Murphys had a long-term marriage, and they’re at retirement age. They are at the end of their working life, not at the beginning,” Krusniak said. “If these people were 30, it might be a different story. But given their ages, the length of their marriage, given what they’ve both endured, I think it’s fair what we’re asking for,” Krusniak said.
Divozzo personally believes the it’s a tough question, but it boils down to the veteran’s disability check belonging to the veteran.
“If I do 25 years in the Army and retire, that should be divided fairly with an ex-spouse. But if I’m a veteran and I’ve put 25 years in and I became 100 percent disabled because I was injured or had a leg blown off, that disability part should belong to the veteran,” Divozzo said.
Murphy said that one military wife emailed him and said she deserves compensation for the 28 years she has lost sleep (her husband woke up nightly with nightmares of war). “I wrote back, ‘if you compare lack of sleep to being shot at, you should seek serious counseling.”’

A CRAPSHOOT
While he awaits a ruling, Murphy is in
touch via email with veterans in a national group called Operation Firing for Effect. Through the constant communication of the men, he’s learned that rulings on this issue have varied by state and even within Michigan. Murphy calls his own case a “crapshoot.”
Meanwhile, he’s getting veterans fired up about the case. He traveled to Washington D.C. in April to speak for Operation Firing for Effect. He spoke in front of the Capitol to several hundred people—mostly veterans.
Murphy is clearly on a mission. It’s emotionally draining, he said, but he’s determined to win.
“Before I found Wendy to represent me, a lot of lawyers turned me down, telling me I was opening a can of worms. And I am. Whatever the ruling, I know it will affect anyone who has ever worn a uniform past, present and future.

A pill for post traumatic stress disorder?

In a recent 60 Minutes segment, Leslie Stahl reported that researchers are now looking at a pill that softens the memory of an emotionally devastating event.
The premise behind the experimental drug is that memories are seared onto our brain when our adrenaline level is intensely high—during moments of fear and stress. Memories are also a bit mushy at first and take time to solidify in our brain. So scientist James McGaugh wondered what would happen if you block the receptors for adrenaline shortly after a stressful event. That question led to the double-blind, two-year study of propranolol, a medicine usually used to treat high blood pressure.
Those who have taken the experimental drug said their nightmares stopped after the drug. One woman—raped decades ago at the age of 11 by a family doctor—reported joyfully that she finally felt normal.
Researchers are excited, believing it could help the multitude of soldiers who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. But an official in the Bush administration objected to the drug, saying it could be misused to get rid of minor memories that would otherwise serve as good learning experiences.