7/28/2019 After DOMA: Military Spousal Benefits

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Tis series of fact sheets produced together by:

American Civil Liberties Union | Center for American Progress | Family Equality Council | Freedom to Marry | Gay & Lesbian Advocates & DefendersHuman Rights Campaign | Immigration Equality | Lambda Legal | National Center for Lesbian Rights | National Gay and Lesbian Task Force | OutServe-SLDN.

MILITARY SPOUSAL BENEFITSService members receive only approximately 30% o their total compensation in the ormo base pay. Te remaining 70% o their compensation package comes in the orm oallowances, in-kind benets, andin the case o retireesdeerred compensation. Forservice members who are married (or who have another qualied dependent), many o

these allowances and benets are increased, to account or the reality that the servicemember is providing or a amily, instead o an individual. Tese increases are generousand reect the unique strains and challenges placed on a amily with a member serving inthe military.

Who is a military spouse?

For the active military, reserves, and National Guards, by statute a spouse is a husbandor wie as the case may be. Ten-Secretary o Deense Panetta said in a memo onFebruary 11, 2013, that:

In the event that the Deense o Marriage Act is no longer applicable to the Departmeno Deense, it will be the policy o the Department to construe the words spouse andmarriage without regard to sexual orientation, and married couples, irrespective o

sexual orientation, and their dependents, will be granted ull military benets.

www.deense.gov/news/Same-SexBenetsMemo.pd

With the Supreme Court striking down DOMA as unconstitutional, it no longer applieto the Department o Deense (DOD) and we can expect the DOD to issue a ormalstatement that it will construe the statute denition o spouse to be inclusive, as laid out inSecretary Panettas statement.

Which marriages does the military consider valid?

Generally, the military will consider a marriage valid i it was valid in the state wherethe marriage took place. A state-issued marriage certicate is normally all the evidencenecessary to demonstrate that the marriage was considered valid by the state.

Marriages entered into in oreign countries to oreign nationals generally must be approvedby the military service beorehand. I such a marriage is not approved beorehand, theservice member must obtain a recognition o marriage rom the military service. Ingeneral, no benets will result rom marriage entered into in a oreign country to a oreignnational unless it was pre-approved by the service or ratied aterwards.

While a marriage may be valid according to state law, the military does not providebenetsor will seek restitution or benets already paidor sham marriages enteredinto solely or the purposes o obtaining benets. Te military has aggressively prosecutedsuch cases in several instances.

Keep in Mind:

Te Supreme Courts ruling in Windsor applies only to the ederalgovernment. It does not change discriminatory state laws excludingsame-sex couples rom state-conerred marriage rights.

Te ruling striking down DOMA will not be eective until 25 days

rom the decision. Even when eective, ederal agencieslargebureaucraciesmay need and take some time to change orms,implement procedures, train personnel, and efciently incorporatesame-sex couples into the spousal-based system.

Until same-sex couples can marry in every state in the nation, therewill be uncertainty about the extent to which same-sex spouses willreceive ederal marital-based protections nationwide. For ederalprograms that assess marital status based on the law o a state thatdoes not respect marriages o same-sex couples, those state laws

will likely pose obstacles or legally married couples and survivingspouses in accessing ederal protections and responsibilities.

Securing air access to ederal protections that come with marriageor all same-sex couples in the nation will take some time and work.In some situations, it may require Congressional action or ormalrule-making by agencies.

Beore making a decision, it is essential that you consult an attorneyor individualized legal advice. Tis is particularly important orpeople who are on certain public benets, as getting married may

jeopardize your eligibility without providing you the ull measureo protections other married couples enjoy. In addition, couples

who travel to another place to marry and then return to live in astate that does not respect their marriage may be unairly unableto obtain a divorce, which can lead to serious negative legal andnancial consequences. People must make careul decisions whenand where to marry, even as we work together to end this injustice.

We are committed to winning universal access to ederal maritalprotections or married same-sex couples through ongoing publicpolicy advocacy, and, where necessary, strategic litigation. Contactour organizations i you have questions, or updates and to learnmore about what you can do to achieve ull equality or those whoare LGB.

Tis Guidance is intended to provide general inormation regardingmajor areas o ederal marriage-based rights and protections based onhow the various ederal agencies have administered ederal benets. Itshould not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion on anyspecifc acts or circumstances, and does not create an attorney-client

relationship. Past practice is no guarantee o uture developments.While laws and legal procedure are subject to requent change anddiering interpretations in the ordinary course, this is even more truenow as the ederal government dismantles DOMA and extends ederalprotections to same-sex couples. None o the organizations publishingthis inormation can ensure the inormation is current or be responsibleor any use to which it is put.

No tax advice is intended, and nothing therein should be used, andcannot be used, or the purpose o avoiding penalties under the InternalRevenue Code.

Contact a qualied attorney in your state or legal advice about yourparticular situation.

The Supreme Court victory in United States v. Windsorstriking down the discriminatory ederal Deense o Marriage Act (DOMA) afrms that alloving and committed couples who are married deserve equal legal respect and treatment rom the ederal government. The demise o DOMAmarks a turning point in how the United States government treats the relationships o married same-sex couples or ederal programs that are linkedto being married. At the same time, a turning point is part o a longer journey, not the end o the road. There is much work ahead beore same-sexcouples living across the nation can enjoy all the same protections as their dierent-sex counterparts.

7/28/2019 After DOMA: Military Spousal Benefits

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AFTER DOMA: WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU MILITARY SPOUSAL BENEFITS 2

Tis series of fact sheets produced together by:

American Civil Liberties Union | Center for American Progress | Family Equality Council | Freedom to Marry | Gay & Lesbian Advocates & DefendersHuman Rights Campaign | Immigration Equality | Lambda Legal | National Center for Lesbian Rights | National Gay and Lesbian Task Force | OutServe-SLDN.

What happens i I move rom a marriage state to a non-marriage state (or overseas)?

Because the military determines a marriage to be valid based on the lawo the state where the marriage took place, it should not matter what stateyou lived in when you married, what state you move to ater you marry, or

where you are stationed around the world. Once your spouse is recognizedby the military as your spouse, the laws o the state in which you live nolonger play a role in whether you remain eligible or spousal benets rom

the military.

How do I register or spousal benefts?

Eligibility or all military spousal benets ows rom a spouses validenrollment in the Deense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System(DEERS). o add a spouse to DEERS, the service member must go to anID Card ofce or DEERS ofce and present a valid marriage certicate, orin the case o a common law marriage, a determination rom the Sta Judge

Advocate (SJA) that the common law marriage is valid under state law.

For a list o documents required to add dependents to DEERS, please visit:www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/html/RequiredDocuments.html

What is the duty to report marriages?

Service members have a duty to report changes in their dependent statuswithin 30 days. Under DOMA, marriages to a person o the same-sex didnot have to be reported because the military could not recognize thesemarriages. Now that DOMA has been struck down, service members whoare legally married under any states laws must report the marriage. It isunclear when the 30-day deadline or reporting will begin, but it is best toreport as soon as possible.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS MY SPOUSE CAN GET?

Once a spouse is enrolled in DEERS, he or she is eligible or a whole hosto benets. Te most important benets to most service members and theirspouses are:

Spousal Identication Card

RICARE medical insurance coverage

Dependent-rate housing allowance

Family separation allowance

Ability to move o base to live with a spouse

Command-sponsored visas

Access to military installations and acilities, including: base;commissaries; exchanges; Morale, Welare and Recreation (MWR)centers; Family Center programs

Joint Duty Assignments

Access to legal assistance

While it does not ow directly rom DEERS enrollment, the spouses oservice members may also invoke the protections o the ServicemembersCivil Relie Act (SCRA), which provides certain protections rom civilactions against service members who are called to Active Duty. For moreinormation on the SCRA, visitwww.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/scra/welcome.xhtml.

What action do I need to take?

Couples who are married, regardless o whether you currently live in a statethat recognizes your marriage, should proceed immediately to any DEERSofce or ID Card ofce and report that you are married. You will need acopy o your marriage certicate.

Couples who are in state registered domestic partnerships or state civiunions, or couples who have no state legal status, have no mandatory

requirement to report those relationships to the military.

What does the courts ruling mean or the military domesticpartnership benefts extension?

On February 22, 2013, then-Secretary o Deense Panetta announced thatcertain benets not blocked by DOMA would be made available to thesame-sex domestic partners o service members. Te benets extension ischeduled to take eect between August 31, 2013 and October 1, 2013

with some news reports identiying the eective date as September 1, 2013Any same-sex couple who meets the eligibility requirements can register as adomestic partner, regardless o whether the couple has any state-recognizedrelationship status. Seewww.deense.gov/news/Same-SexBenetsMemo.pd

Recognition o a marriage provides many more benets than the domesticpartnership status established by DOD. A married couple will receive all thebenets that a domestic partnership couple would receive, but the domesticpartnership couple will receive ar ewer benets than the married couple.

In the memorandum announcing the domestic partnership benetextension, Secretary Panetta said Te benets changes directed by thimemorandum will be re-assessed when DOMA no longer applies to theDOD to determine whether other changes are needed or appropriate, toinclude whether unmarried same-sex domestic partnerships should be abasis or eligibility or benets in the uture.

Now that DOMA has been struck down, it remains to be seen whetheDOD will continue to implement the domestic partnership benetsextension, or require all benets to be conerred through state-recognizedmarital status.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACTOUTSERVE-SLDN

outserve-sldn.org

GAY & LESBIAN ADVOCATES & DEFENDERS

glad.org

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNIONaclu.org/lgbt

LAMBDA LEGAL

lambdalegal.org

NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS

nclrights.org