I’m delighted that I caused some drama with Don’t Save Your GI Bill For Your Kids…that means that people are thinking. The Post 9/11 GI Bill is a hugely generous benefit and there are all sorts of little details that affect eligibility, benefit amount, transferability, and other issues. Thinking and learning is necessary to make sure you are getting the most possible value for your situation.
Buried deep inside the post, I suggest transferring one month of benefits to each eligible beneficiary, meaning your spouse and your children. Transferring one month of benefits acts as a place marker to put your spouse and children into the Post 9/11 GI Bill system and allows you to add, subtract, or revoke those benefits in the future. This step can only be done before you retire and it can incur an additional service obligation, therefore, it makes sense to do it sooner rather than later.
How do you transfer your Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits? That is done through the milConnect system. You can log in using your Common Access Card (CAC), your DFAS MyPay log in information, or your DoD Self-Service (DS) log in information. Once you enter the milConnect system, you click on the Education tab to select the Transfer Education Benefits (TEB) option. (It’s the only option.) A form open that lists all the eligible transferees.
On the form, use the click button to increase the Months column up to one for each person. It is a funny looking cursor, an arrow, but don’t let that throw you off. You will probably want to leave the end date column empty as it will automatically become the maximum amount of time allowed under the GI Bill laws. You will then scroll down, read and agree to the numerous check boxes stating that you acknowledge all those statements. At the end, you will have to click on the Submit Request button that is located between the form and the acknowledgements. When the submit button has processed, a small message will show up at the top of the page saying that your submission has been received. It recommends that you print that page for confirmation.
Once submitted, the benefits folks will verify your status. You can make their job easier by making sure that your electronic service record accurately reflects your current information.
You will need to check back periodically to ensure that the transfer goes through successfully. When you log-in, it will say that your status is Submitted until it is approved. If you run into difficulties, be sure to get help. The right place to find help depends on your branch of service. There is a long list of contact information on the Contact Us page located inside the milConnect website. There is also a great FAQ page available there.
While I don’t advocate “saving” your benefits, I do think that you should maximize your options. Transferring one month of benefits to each eligible family member gives you the ability to increase, decrease, or revoke their benefits in the future and allows you maximum flexibility to make the most of the amazing Post 9/11 GI Bill offerings.
while I appreciate your your blog, it would be nice to see other veterans like myself speak up about how some of us are being denied the right to transfer our benefits. I served during the Post 9/11 era and am qualified to recieve the 9/11 GI Bill. However, when I retired in Jan 2010, no one informed me that I had to transfer my benefits prior to leaving service. When I asked about my benefits, I was told to simply go thru VA here in Atlanta if I had any questions.
Needless to say that was when VA broke the news that I can't transfer my benefits to my sons. What puzzles me most is that if I want to go back to school I can use my benefits but my children can't yet, they have the gall to say thank you for your service. After 24 years of active Army service I deserve better and so does every veteran who is eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill. How about standing up for that? I will await your response.
Unfortunately, I don't agree with you. I understand the frustration of the people who retired between 11 September 2001 and the time that the transferability option became available on 1 August 2009. These people were denied, by the way the law was written, from the option to transfer their benefits.
You, on the other hand, were given the opportunity to transfer your benefits but you didn't take advantage of that opportunity. The information was widely disseminated through a huge variety of sources as early as April 2009. It was written about all over the internet, through many Department of Defense websites & press releases, and a military-specific news outlets such as Military.com and the Military Times newspapers. It wasn't hard to find the facts, as evidenced by the fact that nearly 25,000 people applied to transfer their benefits before the program even became active on 1 August 2009. That you had to apply for the transfer before you retired was prominently featured in the articles and information regarding the new Post 9/11 GI bill, particularly because of the way the extended service obligation was grandfathered based upon your date of retirement.
It is not the military's responsibility to tell their service members everything that they need to know about the myriad of military benefits available. There are so many benefits, with so many variables, that a single person would be hard pressed to know every possible permutation. Yes, transition assistance advisors exist to help you find the answers. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the service member to ensure that they know the rules as they apply to their individual situation.
I can hear that you are unhappy with how this has turned out, but I think it is inaccurate to say that you are "being denied the right to transfer" your benefits. You were given the opportunity and did not act upon it in a timely manner.
Why should it be that way in the first place? What difference does it make when he transfers benefits. I see no reason why the rule needs to govern "when" the transfer needs to take place. It is a stupid rule.
I don't disagree with you, Chris. There are a lot of rules, and some of them might be stupid. However, they are the rules, they are well-publicized, and they are the same for everyone. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I find it easier to work within the rules than argue about them.
I just had to reply to this……I too am recently retired. The system in place at the time was NOT at all user friendly. I tried over and over to transfer my benefits to both of my children and for some reason only ONE was accepted. So now I have one daughter approved…and one left out. I tried my very best to get this done and was unable to while on active duty. Once I retired they tell me Im out of luck. I agree with Stefan….he deserves better and so do our children.
I hear your side of the argument, that it is the service memeber's responsibility to do the research and make sure everything is in order. However, the process is not straight forward, and has left a lot of people in the dust. I may be in a similar situation. I signed a new page 13 for the post 9/11 bill in Sep 09, obligating myself to an additional four year commitment. On my new page 13 (navy) it says ""I UNDERSTAND BY SIGNING THIS PAGE 13, I AGREE TO COMPLETE FOUR MORE YEARS IN THE ARMED FORCES
(SELECTED RESERVE) FROM THE DATE I REQUEST TRANSFERABILITY OF POST 9-11, REAP OR MGIB-SR EDUCATION
BENEFITS TO MY DEPENDENTS/FAMILY MEMBERS.
I became aware yesterday that even though I went on the TEB (transfer of eligibility) website and verified my dependents were correctly entered, I never assigned any months to them, and therefor, probably never started my counter for the additional service obligation. So I've been doing my additional obligation and probably won't get the benefit. All of this is due to, in my opinion, a process that has too many complexities and too easily leaves members behind who believe that they have done everything required.
We were told to transfer after we departed not while we were still in. Also, when went through my divorce I turned in my paperwork 4 times and it never got fixed. Married again before I got out and upon separation ended up owing 5000.00 that they turned into a loan and charged interest for!! I did my homework and my paperwork still get done but I guess you would agree that was my fault, too.
If every military member has time like you to research every bits of military policy, there should not be problem. I would say and believe that G.I. Bill transferability is an entitlement and benefit for every military retirees.
I iagree with Stephen!
I agree with you both. The system does have some operational issues sometime even though HRC denies it.
I agree completely. After serving 23 years in the military on active duty, after seven deployments to a combat zone, I am unable to transfer my benefits to my dependent because I retired in 2007, prior to the bill being passed into law. As long as I meet the eligibility requirements, why does it matter when I retired?
Here is a petition that will hopefully help in getting the transfer rights to those that served; The more signers the more strengthened the petition will be. Please sign it. http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/gi-bill-fairn…
My husband experienced the same thing. This is horrible that you are not educated about this policy when exiting. He tried to transfer his benefits to our son a month after retiring and was denied because he did not do it during his 27 years of service. He was not informed of this policy and just have always been told that he was able to transfer them, but no indication of when it had to be done. He has spoken to several other veterans from his unit who are in the same situation. Something needs to be done about this.
My husband got retired only 2 month ago from Navy targeted by ERB. It was so shocking to him and he was busy with many paperwork and procedure. The TAP class didn't cover G.I. Bill transferability during active time. They know that we had 2 college ready children, nobody in TAP didn't cover anything about transfer.. It was only 2 months ago. My kids are going to college soon…I would say it is a failure to inform benefits to service members!
Dear You, I spent quite some time last night thinking about your comments, and doing some research. I started with a simple Google search for "gi bill transfer." The very first result takes you to the VA's GI Bill Transfer of Benefits page, http://gibill.va.gov/benefits/post_911_gibill/tra… where it clearly states, "Such transfer must be requested and approved while the member is in the Armed Forces." I then looked through the Navy's ERB handbook, watched the Military Families in Transition slideshows: http://www.novonicsttl.com/CNIC/FFR/VirtualOffice… provided via the Navy's Transition Assistance webpage: http://cnic.navy.mil/CNIC_HQ_Site/WhatWeDo/Fleeta…. All these resources refer you to the GI Bill website to get more information.
Since I wasn't at your husband's TAP class, so I don't know what happened in his class. Did you attend? Did they go over the pre-separation counseling checklist in the class? As you know from the checklist, they don't always address every subject in complete detail, but rather make you aware of programs so that you can do further research yourself.
I know that I am unpopular for stating that people have to take responsibility for themselves, but I believe it to be true. It sounds like you planned for your husband to transfer his benefits to your children. Before he found out that he was on the ERB list, had you done any research on transferring the benefits? Did you know that transferring benefits incurs a service obligation (unless prevented by policy)? Did you take any of the GI Bill classes available at your Navy Fleet and Family Service center? How did you expect to learn about the process and rules about transferring?
The Post 9/11 GI bill, and it's tranferrability, was never intended to be a retiree's benefit or entitlement. It was intended to be a recruiting and retention tool, and the rules reflect that intent. Transferring the benefit requires six years of service before you are eligible for transfer, and it then requires that you agree to serve additional four years after you've transferred the benefit. People, such as your husband, who were unable to serve the additional time required for transfer were still given the unexpected bonus of being allowed to transfer their benefits if they met certain criteria. However, in return for this unexpected bonus , those people had to follow certain rules and timelines.
I am sorry that your husband did not transfer his benefits before he retired, but I can't understand how it is a "failure to inform." The Department of Defense and the news media, myself included, are knocking ourselves out trying to get the right information to everyone. It is in handbooks, it is in slideshows, it is in briefs, it is in classes, it is on the internet and in newspapers. The information is out there, you just have to look for it.
What I find rather disappointing as a dependent is that my father, who retired after 40 years of service on September 1, 2009, was unable to transfer his benefits to my brother, sister, or myself because we were all just over the age of 26. Two of us were in grad school and one in undergrad in 2009-2010 and could have used the $90,000 that my father earned. It should not matter what age dependents are if they are in school. And it doesn't matter if this benefit was intended to be a recruitment and retention tool and not a retiree's benefit. That's not how it is worded. When this benefit was passed into law as a benefit to those who have served since 9/11, it should include all those who served after 9/11, retired or not. Not only did my dad earn that $90,000 with his service before and since 9/11 but we as his kids earned it as well through the sacrifices we made as a family. On a separate note, I have recently been told that waivers of the age limit of 26 have been granted. Do you know anything about this?
GI Bill has WAY TOO MANY CONDITIONS!!!!! Before this day, that day, this many, that many, less than or more than, age this, age that. WTF?! I didn't perform my orders on these conditions! I went and did my duties and orders with no words back no matter how unhappy I was. Like running a stupid PT test in a snow in shorts and t-shirt ( 2 mile under 12:30) and not being able to talk for 3 month after that or getting bilateral hernia from following orders to pull bodies all day long.
Now I am in school and I have to be enrolled in at least 6 units of my major to get GI Bill, and I can't take some 1 or 2 unit class to have 6 units total. They are not part of the major. But the classes I need to take are a sequence type of class and can't take more than one. Anyways, no GI Bill for me even though I need to complete 4 classes worth about 20 units. That's 4 semesters and no help from VA even though I earned my stupid benefits. No GI Bill payments for me. Yayaaa! Screw you VA and the Govt and the politicians. But you expect me to say…Thanks VA! Thanks Gov! Thanks dudes! F off! Got no time for you, going to work my stupid part time work where they prefer to hire young dumb ass managers with no experience instead of promoting from within, especially if you are in a National Guard and can be gone to deployment. Good luck, as my manager said, I can't make you a manager because you can be gone, and then she would have to hire another one to replace me. Life in the National Guard with the VA benefits sucks people!
I appreciate the benefits offered to miitary members and their families. My husband and I are discussing the ways to use the Post GI Bill that would maximize the benefit of such a good program. The Post GI Bill is a perk but its not without flaws and a program of such magnitude that benefits so many people will have rules. It is always important to remember the best person to give you the most information that you need is YOU. You can not rely on what other people say or make assumptions without getting the information that you need yourself.
I am out of the army have a great career and want to transfer my gi bill to my wife? There is a way possible right, without me joining?? Somebody give me a good answer! Please!
To Kate and MonJ; I too "failed to take advantage of the benefit" as you phrased it. I had attempted to do this while on active duty. When I did it on the website, the system glitched when I hit the submit button. I went to the military Ed Center to obtain assistance, but completely forgot to complete that mission. The reason I forgot? I have a memory problem that was diagnosed and documented by the military medical personnel. I am now, due to other severe physical problems, medically retired after almost 26 years serving my country whenever and wherever it needed me. I had thought that the transfer had already been completed (because of the memory dump) and when I went online to print a copy of benefit transfer for my daughter to submit to a college that she applied to, I find that it did NOT work when I originally submitted on the web site transfer process!
(Continued) It's OK for you to sit back and shrug others off and tell them they have no one to blame but themselves while you may have more than enough time to sit and do all of this research about every benefit available. Some of us didn't have the time as we had to search for employment and, if hired, work to support our families. Don't forget that myself and maybe a few others as well could not remember and thought that it was already done and we also didn't have someone holding our hand and walking us around to make sure that it was completed correctly. It really must be nice to be able to speak DOWN to us and tell us basically that (because you had the luxury of time and resources) "I've got mine. It's all your fault if you didn't get it and it's of no concern to me." Why not try to help someone for a change instead. No one really wants to hear you voice your opinion on here if you are a conceited snob about things. They look for help, not hindrances.
It's not speaking down to anyone, and I don't find her a conceited snob at all.
If you have a memory problem, I am sure you have a system in place to remind you of daily activities, notes in your smartphone, a notepad, reminder alerts, did you set one up for this? Did you receive and keep any of the verification correspondence?
It is NOT up to anyone else to remind people of their benefits and what they need to do to take advantage of them. In this day and age, pretty much any information you need is on the internet or a phone call away.
I was wondering if anyone has looked at the issue the housing allowance and book allowance when you transfer your benefits if you are in the reserve or National Guard in a traditional status (normal weekend duty or IMA duty). I keep reading that spouses are not eligible for housing or book allowance if the member is still on active duty. That makes sense to me since the active duty person would already be getting housing benefits but does not address reserves who don’t get that allowance.
I retired in 2007, served three combat tours, provided security for the Salt Lake City Olympics post 911, protected the president on K9 missions, actually got my degree while on active duty, now when I thought I might be eligible to pass my benefits to my son so he would not have to risk life and limb to obtain his education I find out that since I am retired and these laws were inacted in 2009 I m not eligible to transfer these benefits, which now will not be used by me.
What about Retired Veterans? The GI Bill is ridiculous as written. 27 year of service and two tours in Iraq andthe DOD and VA tells me I can't use it for my daughter. But they can spend billions of $$ on bureaucrats and useless programs. This is what many veterans get for their service. We are not asking for handouts nor any additional benefits, just for the benefits we and our families earned through self-less service and personal sacrify.
For all you people who are complaining, last time I checked this is a BENEFIT not an entitlement. Which means its there if Available and taken advantage of. Apparently you don't get the meaning of Service to your country, Its not about the benefits its about the dedication and if you don't understand that then think about the ones who have given there lives. This is whats wrong with this country right now is everyone thinks they are entitled to everything everyone else has or is offered.
Actually Tim,
This is an entitlement just like retirement and tricare are entitlements. GI’s have a right to the GI Bill because they earned it. This is not a hand out. It is part of a compensation package. I assume by your post that if you “served your country” you did it without pay. Veterans are entitled to every benefit that they were promised.
My husband and I are having the same issue with his GI Bill benefits.. It turns out that after 11years of service, he was medically retired and no one said a word in DTAPS or TAPS about transferring his benefits before being discharged. He is a wounded warrior who fought for our country for years and is being denied the right to do what he wishes with the benefits he earned!!! As soldiers, you pay for your GI Bill in your 1st year of service, that being said, it's ours and we should have the right as veterans to do what we will with the benefits we paid for!! If you or anyone knows a way to correct the situation so that my husband can disperse his benefits between myself and our children, please let us know! This is a life changing issue for all military families! And we all should speak up about this! My email is attached so please let us know if anyone has any info.. Thanks :)
Genette, I’m sorry that your family is feeling frustrated. I have to point out one thing, however. The Post 9/11 GI Bill does not have any buy-in. The payments made during your husband’s first year of service were for the Montgomery GI Bill, which never had a transferrability option. Depending on when your husband was retired, he is able to still use the Montgomery GI Bill and/or the Post 9/11 GI bill. Also, depending on when he was retired, transferring the benefits might not have been an option. It is a fairly new change. As an aside, if your husband uses all of his Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, he is eligible for a refund of his Montgomery GI Bill payments. I agree that the GI Bill, in whichever form, is definitely a life-changing option. I hope that your husband will decide to use it!
I am seeking your help. Has anyone expereienced a problem with the TEB system completing your transfer. Please contact me. HRC has denied my transfer because the transfer I attempted to make failed, even though the screen indicated submitted. I would like to request a statement from you to use in my case to the board and will also provide you my statement.
Darryl
Email me at DC5star@comcast.net
I am confused. So I retired in Nov 2010. I placed 1 month for my wife, son and daughter. At TAP (Transition Assistance Program) they watched me submit it and said I was good to go. No I am to understand that it failed as I did not have the obligated service requirement met. So am I to understand that they wanted me to extend past 20 years as an E-6? I didn't think that was possible!
Jayson,
This is Stefan the originator of this post. It is my understanding that according to (RCP) Retention Control Points, you are not allowed to stay in past 20 years. However, if when you submitted your transfer of benefits you were at or near 20 years and retirement eligible then the additional service requirement would not be necessary. Good Luck my friend.
One of the big misunderstandings veterans have is that VA benefits are for the benefit of veterans. They are simply another recruiting tool. As the wars wind down, watch how many benefits get cut.
The post 9/11 GI Bill has been great for those who served in the “real” wars. Unlike those loafers that came before them. In most politicians minds, those of us who served pre 9/11 don’t count.
I retired in Oct 2011 and the transfer process was very complicated, it took me several times to finally complete the application. My heart goes out to those who were denied, my children are 10/14 years old and the benefits will be waiting for them when they are ready to leave them. Keep fighting, maybe something will change.
Veronica,
Congratulations on getting this benefit to pass along to your children. I would like to know how you found out aboutthe transfer process?
Correction…."My heart goes out to those who were denied, my children are 10/14 years old and the benefits will be waiting for them when they are ready to use them".
I have a question about transferring benefits. My Wife's son wants us to give him custody of my step daughter who is 17 and turning 18 in 2 months, because he says he can give her his benefits from the GI Bill. He has been in the Navy for less than a year. From everything I have read online this would not be possible. Would that more or less be a true statement or I am I not finding the appropriate information?
Jose, you are correct. Your step son is not able to transfer his benefits to anyone until he has served for a minimum of six years. In addition, the process of claiming a non-spouse, non-child as a dependent is a little more complicated than perhaps it seems. Your step son is very kind to think of this, but I'm not sure he has all the details, and I'm also pretty sure that he has no idea what it would entail to actually have an 18 year old as his responsibility :)
Thanks for writing in to The Paycheck Chronicles.
Kate,
This is Stefan and I wrote the original post that you replied to concerning Transferring Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits to my sons. Since my post, I have contacted my Congressman and US Senator here in Georgia. I have also submitted an appeal to the Military Board of Corrections and I need to submit additional information within 30 days or my appeal will be denied.
cont.
1. DA nor VA ever sent any guidance through military channels covering this information or the process.
2. It was up to commands to disseminate the information down to the lowest levels which did not always happen.
3. Many education officers didn't know or understand the rules and misinformed soldiers about the process. In many instances they actually told soldiers their transfer was complete only to have the soldier find out after they had left service that it had not taken in the system.
4. The TEB website was fraught with problems from day one and still remains problematic. Don't believe me, go to the site as it has moved and attempt to access it and you will see for yourself.
cont.
5. Because I served in the Recruiting Command and was not on a base, there was no education assistance or dissemination of information. Just rumor and speculation about the benefits. So to get clarity, I emailed HRC and was told to contact VA for benefits information.
6. Since I was a Retiree Recall, when it came time to return to retirement, I was not allowed to attend TAP or any benefits briefings because our HQ was in another state and that would mean TDY which they were unwilling to allocate funds for. I was out processed via fax and told that any needed benefits information would come from VA.
7. As for the huge media blitz on the Post 9/11 GI Bill, I have found that there has been many articles that never even mention that the transfer needed to take place prior to departing service. Many of these were a part of the major media campaign. Namely "newgibill.org which is affiliated with IAVA the nonprofit advocate organization established just for the New GI Bill.
cont…
In short, the so called massive media campaign that both you and the Board of Corrections refer to was suspect at best regarding getting the word out. What most people don't know is that this was a recruitment/retention tool for the mainstream. As a recruiter in AMEDD, we didn't even get the benefit of this information. I suspect that was because healthcare providers during the Iraq war would not have joined just for the new GI Bill but the rank and file soldiers would obviously find such an incentive to join as well as the mid career soldier would find it a worthwhile benefit to continue to serve.
Let me be clear, I am not disparaging health care providers at all. I am proud of all that they do and have done to take care of our soldiers, veterans and family members. I continue to support their mission daily as a DA Civilian. I just want you to understand that when veterans earn a benefit thru their selfless service, it should be given to them, period. There should not be rules in place that are designed to limit or make ineligible their access to those earned benefits. So, I say respectfully, save the "Ignorance of the Law is no Excuse" argument for another day and some other fool who is willing to accept it! I came out of retirement to once again serve my country and my fellow soldiers. I have my own business and by God's grace my family has been blessed to have a roof over their heads during this troubling economy.
cont…
Kate, the simple truth is that less than 1% of the US populations ever serve in the military. The benefits that we have are earned and not given to us. Stop being a policy wonk and find the heart I know you have and the compassion that basic human dignity demands and stand up for veteran’s rights! And, if you can't find it in yourself to do that then I for one would prefer that you just say thank you for the blanket of freedom that those who serve provide and otherwise keep your judgmental opinions to yourself.
End…Stefan
Hi Stefan,
I applaud your efforts and am anxious to find out hat happens in your case.
What I find rather disappointing as a dependent is that my father, who retired after 40 years of service on September 1, 2009, was unable to transfer his benefits to my brother, sister, or myself because we were all just over the age of 26. He just barely met the August 1, 2009 date but our issue was being over 26. Two of us were in grad school and one in undergrad during this time period and could have used the $90,000 that my father earned. I am in my third year of a doctoral program and could still be using his benefits. It should not matter what age dependents are if they are in school. And it doesn't matter if this benefit was intended to be a recruitment and retention tool and not a retiree's benefit. That's not how it is worded and was not advertised as such. When this benefit was passed into law as a benefit to those who have served since 9/11, it should include all those who served after 9/11, retired or not. Not only did my dad earn that $90,000 with his service before and since 9/11 but we as his kids earned it as well through the sacrifices we made as a family. On a separate note, I have recently been told that waivers of the age limit of 26 have been granted. Do you know anything about this? I work at The University of Alabama and have been in contact with our Veteran and Military Affairs Office. They believed my dad could contact someone to request a waiver of the age requirement. He is retired now so it would also include an exception of transferring benefits as a retiree. My contacts on campus also suggested contacting our Congressman and Senator. They cited misinformation as being the basis for any appeal that is made. Do you have any advice or guidance for us/ my dad as we attempt to appeal this? Thank you for any help you can provide!!
Rebekah
My dad recently found an article in a magazine that said that a man gave his daughter the benifits for the first bit of college. well my dad told me to go talk to someone and i wanted to do my research first. my dad is 70 years old and i am about to be 18. although my dad served from 1959 to 1953, could i still be allowed to recieve those benifits? because that is how the article made it sound.
Nicole, the short answer is no. There are a few reasons. All GI Educational Bills have usage periods during which they must be used. Your father's educational benefits ended a set period after he left the service. (I'm sorry that I can't find the exact number, the program has changed several times since then. It is usually 10 years.) In addition, benefits transferrability is only a feature of the most recent incarnation of the GI Bill, and it did not become and option until August 2009. Servicemembers who separated from the military prior to 2009 are not able to transfer any benefits.
I'm sure this is not good news, but there are many other sources of college funding out there. In particular, you may want to do a Google search on "veteran child scholarship" to see if there are any scholarships for which you are specifically qualified based upon your father's military service.
Good luck to you!
I retired in March 2010 and did transfer my benefits to my wife initially. We discussed transferring the benefit to our two children so I revoked my wife's TEB and submitted for my children. Some how the system did not take my children and now they are not eligible. I recently reinvoked my wife's TEB which was approved. Since I already have the benefit will the military allow me to transfer this to my two children? Fort Know is telling me I cannot TEB to my children currently. Do you know of any successful appeals to do this?
Mike, I'm a little confused. All transfers of benefits must be initiated before retirement. If you did not transfer benefits to your children before you retired, you do not have the ability to add them after retirement. Did you try to revoke your wife's TEB and submit it for your children before or after your retirement? Prior to your comment, I believed that once you revoked an individual's benefit, you could not reinstate it. I'm very confused about how you got your wife's benefit back, unless you hadn't actually revoked her benefit in the first place.
Once you have allocated any benefits to an eligible beneficiary, you retain the right to change or revoke their benefit in the future. For example, my husband has allocated one month of benefits to each of our children, and one month to me. This acts a "place holder" and allows him to modify the amounts when we actually know our needs.
I have not heard about any appeals to transferrability, either successful or unsuccessful. I would be curious to hear more as you proceed through the process.
Hello all,
I have gone through the agonizing process of sending in a AFBCMR last June or august and have finally got a ruling in favor of the transfer of the gi bill. Has anyone else had this ruling? If so they said that they would change the record to show that the transfer to the dependents is approved. The ruling was finalized 3/22/13, do you think it is updated into the system? What would be the next step?
Hello,
Recently found out I incurred a service obligation for one year ending Aug 11. The transfer was approved Aug 10. I retired Dec 10. I had no idea of the obligation as I would have remained on active as required. I understand it is my responsibility to know the details, but that information during out-processing briefs, TAPS, retirement briefs was never relayed, just to get the transfer done before retirement. When I signed the statement of understanding the new service obligation was not on the form due to website glitch so they sent me a blank version to sign/scan into site. I recently pulled it from mil-connect and the obligation date has been hand scribbled on bottom of form in an unofficial spot. If I had seen a official date of new service on this form it would have alarmed me back in Aug 10. So a year and half after retirement I see the date on ebenifits of obligated service. Further research revealed what I should have done back when, which was to transfer the benefit in Aug 2009 and incurred the one year service time at that time. I retired with 22 years, one more than what would have been required! Ebenefits still says approved, 100% benefit all to my daughter as planned, but I'm sure when she submits to use next year it will be denied due to failure to complete obligated service. Not sure how the VA validates obligated time completed but I assume its the first thing they look at when receiving benefit requests.
Has anyone had luck in overturning obligated service or could advise on how to proceed…perhaps with the AFBCMR? It's a long shot I know. I have a about a year to work it before my daughter graduates.
Thanks!