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BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN, SPOUSES, PARENTS
Know your eligibility for benefits (housing, health care, day care, education, special allowances, commissary, exchange, etc.) including for your children, stepchildren, and/or parents living with you.
| Do any of these requirements affect you? | Yes | No |
| 1. Service members who have been legal guardians of children for at least 12 months may receive benefits for their children. | ___ | ___ |
| 2. Stepchildren are eligible for benefits if the servicemember is providing a household for them.
| ___ | ___ |
| 3. Children lose eligibility at age 18, or at age 23 if full-time student, or if they marry.
| ___ | ___ | | 4. Parents, or parents-in-law who live with and are financially supported by the servicemember, are eligible for ID cards. | ___ | ___ |
Should your spouse die or if you become divorced, here's what happens to your ID card and benefits:
- Widows and widowers retain their ID card and benefits. They lose their card and benefits if they remarry before age 57. If they get divorced, the card can be reissued and benefits reinstated.
- Divorced spouses lose their ID card unless they were married to servicemembers for 20 years, of which 13 were active duty years.
SOURCE: Adapted from Trudy S. Woodring and Ronald L. Krannich, Ph.D., The Military Spouse's Map Through the Maze Pocket Guide (Manassas Park: Impact Publications), page 9. Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Copying strictly forbidden.
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