Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am a wife of a former active duty soldier (we do NOT live together and aren't legally separated yet) and he claims that he was dishonorably discharged from the military. Where do I go to find out if this true and if he is getting any benefits that he should be sharing with me and the children? I don't want to take anything from him. I just need some assistance and how to find out the information to know for sure.
You will have to work it all out in court. You can request dd214, then.
If he isn't retired, if he isn't dishonorably discharged, he could only be receiving a disability or possibly, pension.
The US government generally only allows those to go to the recipient veteran and going after them reeks of pettiness.
You will have to work it all out in court. You can request dd214, then.
If he isn't retired, if he isn't dishonorably discharged, he could only be receiving a disability or possibly, pension.
The US government generally only allows those to go to the recipient veteran and going after them reeks of pettiness.
If she was married to him for at least 10 years when he was on active duty, and he qualifies for a pension, the courts will automatically award the ex-wife half of the pension upon divorce. That's across the board, all states.
If he got a dishonorable discharge, then he is eligible for no benefits. Jimbo is right in that the court will have to sort that out. Make sure your divorce lawyer is familiar with the military side of things. He should be able to check with DOD to determine if the husband is or is not getting a pension.
I am a wife of a former active duty soldier (we do NOT live together and aren't legally separated yet) and he claims that he was dishonorably discharged from the military. Where do I go to find out if this true and if he is getting any benefits that he should be sharing with me and the children? I don't want to take anything from him. I just need some assistance and how to find out the information to know for sure.
If he's not communicating with you from prison, he was probably notdishonorably discharged.
But the first thing your lawyer will want from is a copy of his DD-214 that shows the character of his discharge at the bottom (Member 4 copy)
OP could request that her husband show her his copy of the DD214, otherwise I can think of no way since this would be covered by the privacy act. Even being honorably discharged, I'm just not sure what assistance would be available to the wife and children.
OP could request that her husband show her his copy of the DD214, otherwise I can think of no way since this would be covered by the privacy act. Even being honorably discharged, I'm just not sure what assistance would be available to the wife and children.
That was my thought as well. Unless he retired from the military, I don't think there are any benefits that she would be entitled to. Maybe the GI Bill?
IF he was honorably discharged, and IF he is receiving disability, and IF you are considered his dependent (I believe you have to live with him, I don't think children do, but I could be wrong on both those points) he will receive a few extra dollars for your support a month. Like... $30 extra a month per person, or something like that.
He does have to pay child support for his children, regardless of his source of income. I think the precedence in some (not all) situations/states is that if he's only receiving disability, they can take some child support out of that, but they have to leave enough for him to live on. If he has an income he can pay child support out of, I think they leave the disability untouched. It's not petty to ask that the father of a child pays for said child. That's just the order of things. But that's about it. You don't get anything else. Honestly, the veteran doesn't even really get that many benefits himself, so I don't know what it is you're expecting...
And that is all assuming he a) was NOT dishonorably discharged and b) he receives disability on the sly.
Unless he retired from the military, I don't think there are any benefits that she would be entitled to. Maybe the GI Bill?
The GI Bill can be split up between spouses. But if the spouse takes it sometimes they have certain limitations. I know there was a news story a while back that dependents who were using the GI Bill had to drop out en masse in the middle of a semester because they reduced some funding. So sometimes the GI Bill can be transferred, BUT you both have to agree to it. And that would be petty to do unless he already had a degree and wasn't going to use it in the first place. And you'd still have to be married.
Housing loans you both have to be on the mortgage. Technically he's he one who would get approved for the loan.
You don't get health insurance unless he's rated 100% permanent which is nigh impossible to get unless you're in a really bad way. They'll rate you at a 100% sometimes but not designate you as permanent, which is the key for the wording.
Most other benefits are via the states, like say, property tax breaks, or free park passes. Again most of those are in the veteran's name - so it's in his name but you benefit from living in the tax-free house or whatever. If you're separated you can't apply for those. And often those are also based on disability status - sometimes only 100% ratings get those.
There really aren't many benefits if you're not retired - much less if you're a spouse, much less a separated/ex spouse. Veterans aren't cash cows, sorry to say.
That was my thought as well. Unless he retired from the military, I don't think there are any benefits that she would be entitled to. Maybe the GI Bill?
The only way that the spouse or dependents would be entitled to the post 9/11 GI bill is if the service member has served 10 years or has served 6 years with the agreement of another 4 years.
One has to remember that these are "Veterans" benefits and civilians are not entitled to these benefits. There are special conditions as to where the spouse or dependents can collect benefits entitled to the veteran. If the veteran is 100% total and permanent disabled and passes away, the spouse can file for DIC and the dependents can file for Education benefits.
However, if the veteran was discharged with a DD then this is a moot point.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
