Transfering Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits to Dependents
The Post 9/11 GI Bill allows active duty members to transfer benefits to their dependents as part of a military retention program. The rules surrounding transfer to dependents is simple, normally: the active duty member must have been serving for a minimum of six years and agree to serve an additional four years. The dependent, child or spouse, may use the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits the same way the active duty member would.
Things are more complicated than they seem, however. Due to military members that were scheduled for retirement and could not offer an additional four years of service, several additives were made to the family transfer program to assure these members would still be given the benefits of Post 9/11 GI Bill family transferability. The ruling from the U.S. Department of Defense is as follows:
The final rules allow transferability of a portion or all of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for any member of the armed forces (active duty or Selected Reserve, officer or enlisted) on or after August 1, 2009, who is eligible for the benefit, and:
- Has at least six years of service in the armed forces on the date of election and agrees to serve four additional years in the armed forces from the date of election.
- Has at least 10 years of service in the armed forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of election, is precluded by either standard policy or statute from committing to four additional years, and agrees to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such policy or statute, or is or becomes retirement-eligible during the period from Aug. 1, 2009, through Aug. 1, 2013.
For those eligible for retirement on Aug. 1, 2009, no additional service is required.
For those who have an approved retirement date after Aug. 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2010, no additional service is required.
For those eligible for retirement after Aug. 1, 2009, and before Aug. 1, 2010, one year of additional service after approval of transfer is required.
For those eligible for retirement on or after Aug. 1, 2010, and before Aug. 1, 2011, two years of additional service after approval of transfer are required.
For those eligible for retirement on or after Aug. 1, 2011, and before Aug. 1, 2012, three years of additional service after approval of transfer required.
Veterans are not entitled to the benefits of family transfer. It is used only as a method of military retention.
Only the Post 9/11 GI Bill offers this. The MGIB or other benefits are not transferable.
For spouses, the family transfer benefits are good for up to fifteen years, just like the active duty member. For children, however, the rulings are slightly different; children qualify for the family transfer benefits up to 26 years of age. This assures they may use the benefits at any time in an 8-year education program (such as medical school) and that they do not expire for children that are still very young.
