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10 Questions About Post 9/11 GI Bill Family Transfer Benefits Answered

7 Jul, 2009 GI Bill
10 Questions About Post 9/11 GI Bill Family Transfer Benefits Answered

Military personnel have largely demonstrated excitement, anticipation, as well as frustration over the Post 9/11 GI Bill’s provision which allows transfer benefits to spouses and children as a method of military retention. In addressing the confusion surrounding this aspect of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the Veterans Benefit GI Bill blog has compiled a list of 10 frequently asked questions:

  1. Do I qualify for family transferability? Please consult this post to see whether or not you qualify.
  2. I am forced to retire soon! Does this mean I will not qualify for family transfer? There is a narrow window between 2009 and 2012 in which the four years of additional service is either reduced or null in void for forced retirees. Read more here.
  3. Where do I apply for benefits transfer for my spouse and/or child(ren)? The Department of Defense has an application available.
  4. I filled out the application! Now what do I do? Right now the DoD is experiencing a backlog due to the immense amount of applications they are receiving. Wait a week to be contacted.
  5. The application is not working! What should I do? The application currently only works in Internet Explorer. Try switching browsers if you are not using IE.
  6. How long will my dependent qualify for benefits? Spouses qualify for up to fifteen years; children may qualify for even longer than that. For children, see next question:
  7. Will my young children be able to use the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits 15+ years from now? Yes! Your children qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits until they are 26 years of age. The 15 year limit applies to spouses.
  8. I served over ten years, but that was before the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Do I still qualify for benefits transfer? Probably not. There’s a narrow window from 2009 to 2012 where the amount of service required is less (and sometimes nil), but the ability to transfer benefits is provided as a method of military retention, so retired veterans typically do not qualify.
  9. I have served the military for several years; why do they ask for an additional four years to transfer the benefits I earned to my family members? The military is a volunteer service. They offer methods of military retention to continue to keep this volunteer service going beyond the point needed to qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill. While qualifying for the Post 9/11 GI Bill yourself is much easier, they incorporated family transferability with the idea in mind that it would need that additional military service so that they had another retention benefit to offer to active duty and reserve personnel.
  10. Is there someone I can call to further answer my questions? The VA has a general line that is dedicated to answering all questions concerning the Post 9/11 GI Bill: 1-888-GI-BILL-1 (1-888-442-4551).

As always, feel free to comment with further questions and concerns!

Comments from Facebook

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  • Jeanette

    My husband is retired now , after 20 years, and qualified for the Post 9/11 GI bill due to his service dates, but has been told he can’t transfer his benefits to family members. Why punish retired vets and their families!! This is a benefit that should be transferable to family members!!

  • Stephanie

    My husband retired on 2008 after serving 21 years. I went back to school in May and heard about the Post 9-11 bill last week. Got my hopes up for nothing! My husband never plans on using his education benefits and we were so excited that we might get a break on my education costs and our childs college fund, too. What a slap in the face to retirees and their family members! Retirees should be allowed to transfer their benefits. Where does all that money go when they don’t ever use it???

  • Brenda

    Why is there a age limit on the child? This is very unfair.
    My husband’s father is retiring from the service next year and is eligible to transfer his education benefits to his children.
    My husband is 32 years old, and has no college degree because he/we could not afford to go to college. Now that his father can transfer this benefit to my husband, my husband will be rejected because of his age. Very, very unfair.

  • Patricia

    My husband and I retired in 2005 with a total of 45 years togther. My husband currently have the old GI Bill and we both are eligible for the Post 9-11 Gi Bill but we have a child in college and a young child that will attend college in 6-years that would have been great to transfer the GI Bill to them. My husband has no intention on using his GI Bill now and I have no intention on getting another degree. Like other retires with family members who could benefit this is so unfair. Can you tell me are they taking another look into this to open it up to retirees?

  • http://10QuestionsAboutFamilyTransferBenefits Tony

    I served 21 years in the Army. I would like to transfer my GI Bill to my wife but having a hard time getting the correct answer. Is this something that can be done or will it be a benefit that I will not get after serving my country

  • Kourtnie McKenzie

    Tony,

    Family transferability is only possible if you are currently in the military and agree to serve more years. It’s a form of military retention that’s offered with the new GI Bill and was not available for the previous MGIB. Sorry for the bad news!

  • Charles

    My wife and have both retired from the United States Army after serving a total of 42 years. I just don’t understand how it is that active duty service members can now transfer their benefits without coming close the time we’ve dedicated to this country. It’s fine to say we’ll look at giving the retirees the ability to transfer the benefits they’ve already earned, but guess what? We don’t have much more time, my wife has stage 4 cancer and I would imagine since it’s her 9/11 benefits we are talking about, they’ll disappear when my wife’s illness gets the better part of her. So come on, do something about this, do the right thing, give us the benefits and transfer rights that we have already earned. Our daughter is 18 and currently in college, totally funded by the same veterans that earned the right to our education benefits. It’s our benefits, let us educate the our daughter by giving us the transfer rights to our GI Bill.

  • laurie

    My husband is a 17 year, four month veteran, with less than 3 years of service before he can retire. Would he have to put in more time if he transfers his Post 9/11 GI Bill?

  • Kourtnie McKenzie

    Laurie,

    Yes, the Post 9/11 GI Bill transferability requires that the military member serve an additional four years. You would want to apply for it soon if you would like your husband to transfer benefits to you so that he only has to serve for the additional year before retirement.

    The reasoning behind is that family transferability is meant to encourage retention in the military.

    Sorry for the bad news!

  • laurie

    I don’t understand. His retirement date is September 2012. If he had to give four more additional years of service, and we sign up now, he would not be able to retire until February of 2014. Am I not understanding this correctly?

  • Kourtnie McKenzie

    Laurie,

    Similar military family members have encountered this problem. Unfortunately, the cut off for exceptions to family transferability was December 2009 (read more here.) It was designed to catch anyone that was retiring soon. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

    I could be wrong though–there’s all kinds of loopholes with the GI Bill–which is why I encourage everyone to contact a VA representative or a representative at the Department of Defense (or a Congressman.) A government official is usually the best call for addressing specific issues like this. I know they’re difficult to get a hold of, but there’s not much we can do on the end of this blog except educate military service and family members on the current guidelines we know of, whether the news is good or not.

  • Kent Gerdts

    Is there any new or proposed legislation coming that will allow retirees to transfer Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to their dependents? I retired in April of 2008 and would like to transfer my Post 911 GI Bill benefits to my children.

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  • Trudy

    My husband retired in 2004 after 24 yrs in the Air Force. I want to go back to school and he doesn’t. What a sham the transferability of education benefits is! Our family should be able to benefit from his years of service to this great country. We served too!

  • Pingback: The New Post 9/11 GI Bill - Eligibility, Applications & Benefits | Veterans Benefits GI Bill

  • Rodriguezjewley

    Does anyone know how long the transfer of benefits takes to be approved by DOD or who to contact?? it has been two weeks since we submitted the request for transfer

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