It depends. If you voluntarily elected former spouse SBP coverage then you may make a written election to change the coverage to your new spouse or dependent child anytime after you remarry or within one year of acquiring a dependent child. However, former spouse SBP coverage that is based upon a court order or written agreement cannot be stopped at your request alone. Court-ordered former spouse coverage may be changed to spouse coverage, only if you remarry, and you furnish DFAS a certified copy of a court order that modifies the provisions of all previous court orders and removes any requirement to provide former spouse SBP coverage.
Former spouse coverage can also be changed if your former spouse dies. If the former spouse SBP is based on a written agreement that has not been incorporated or ratified or approved by a court order, you must furnish DFAS a statement that is signed by you and your former spouse, which proves your former spouse's agreement to the change.
In addition, you must certify either that the court order is valid and in effect or that the statement is current and in effect. This is an election that can be made by the unmarried retiree who might want to provide for a relative including dependent children or other person who could be hurt financially if the retiree dies.
Your nonmilitary spouse can veto your election should you elect to not participate in SBP or elect not to participate at the maximum level. Every retiring member is automatically enrolled in SBP for full coverage unless the spouse consents in writing to reduced coverage or no coverage.
If you were married with children and elected with the spouse's consent children-only coverage, the current spouse or a new spouse can never be covered under the plan. You may submit a request to voluntarily discontinue participation in SBP during a one-year period beginning on the second anniversary of the date of commencement of retired pay. For the purposes of this policy, the date of commencement of retired pay is defined as the date the retiree became entitled to receive retired pay.
Subsequent recall to active duty following retirement does not alter this date. Yes, to cover a newly acquired spouse or child. The change must take place within one year after marriage or acquiring a child anytime during the same year. An insurable interest election can also be canceled at any time except for an insurable interest election that covers a former spouse. No refund of payments are made at any time if an insurable interest election is canceled.
Yes, with the consent of your spouse. The cost for spouse-only coverage is 6. Think of the Survivor Benefit Plan SBP as an insurance policy, focused on protecting a survivor's income flow from the military retirement if the retiree dies first. It has a premium, and a payout in the form of a monthly payment from DFAS. Without SBP, if the retiree dies, the military retirement stops as well. However, to protect a surviving former spouse's share of military retirement, family courts can require a service member to elect former spouse SBP coverage.
As the retiree can only have one primary beneficiary, one effect of court-ordered SBP coverage for a former spouse is that if the service member remarries, the new spouse or children are precluded from coverage. If married at the time of retirement, spousal consent or a court order is required to elect less than maximum coverage. However, that reduction was phased out over several years, and fully eliminated as of April 1, So how do you calculate the base amount necessary to provide sufficient coverage?
This takes a little math. Pursuant to 10 U. When child coverage is added to former spouse coverage, only children resulting from the marriage to that former spouse are covered, including natural born, adopted, or stepchildren. The additional premium for the children's portion, a fairly nominal amount as low as a few dollars a month , is calculated based upon the ages of the servicemember, the former spouse, and the youngest child.
Previously, the law was ambiguous, but DFAS had taken the position that if the former spouse died first, SBP coverage simply expired, and with it, all of the thousands of dollars in accumulated premium payments. If divorced, the form has a place to select former spouse coverage, but the former spouse's signature is not required for this form. To convert an existing SBP spouse coverage election into former spouse coverage, the retiree and former spouse must complete a DD Form , Survivor Benefit Plan SBP Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage , and indicate whether the election is being made pursuant to a court order, a written agreement, or voluntarily.
This distinction is significant, as it affects whether the retiree can unilaterally change the former spouse coverage. The DD Form to convert the coverage from spouse to former spouse must be submitted within one year of the court order requiring coverage! The plan, which is partially funded by the government, is paid for by monthly deductions from the retired pay of the member.
The amount of the premium depends on the percentage of the retired pay that will be paid to the beneficiary. Many beneficiaries are spouses of former military members. However, a spouse loses eligibility as an SBP beneficiary upon divorce. In , Congress amended the law to allow coverage for former spouses, in some circumstances. This coverage may be voluntary or involuntary, but it is never automatic.
In other words, whether former spouse SBP coverage happens by agreement of a divorcing couple or by order of the court, it must be elected. Even if a military retiree had SBP coverage naming his spouse as beneficiary, the retiree must convert that coverage to the same beneficiary as a former spouse.
The retiree must apply for this change of status from spouse to former spouse within one year of the divorce. The spouse may also request SBP coverage in a divorce action. If coverage of a former spouse is ordered by a court, and the member then fails or refuses to make the required election, that member shall be deemed to have made such an election if the service finance center receives a written request from the former spouse asking that the election be made.
0コメント