Pay and Benefits

Entitlement to military retired pay stops at midnight on the date of your death. Your beneficiary is entitled to any military retired pay due to you at the time of your death. If you pass during the first few days of the month, this payment will be relatively small. Nevertheless, your surviving spouse or designated beneficiary has a right to any entitlements but it will not be automatically deposited into your account. If you are not sure if you signed a designation of beneficiary or if the one on file is up-to-date, you need to contact the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) at 1-800-321-1080 or your service finance center at 877-366-2772.

These dates change from year to year based on which day of the week the first of the month falls. DFAS maintains an up to date listing here: http://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/manage/payschedule.html

Retired pay increases are made each year to maintain the same retired pay purchasing power each member had at retirement. This is accomplished through annual Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), which are based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) -- the measure of inflation. The CPI is also used to adjust annuities for other federal retirees, survivors, and social security recipients. More specifically, the pay is adjusted by CPI-W, which is the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.

If you are in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service
P.O. Box 99191 
Cleveland, OH 44199-2058 
Telephone number (toll free): 
1-888-DFAS411 (888-332-7411)
1-800-469-6559 (fax) 
Website: http://www.dfas.mil/

If you are in the Coast Guard or NOAA:

Commanding Officer 
United States Coast Guard Personnel Support Center 
444 S.E. Quincy St. Topeka, KS 66683-3591 
Telephone number (toll free): 
1-800-772-8724 
Website: http://www.uscg.mil/ppc/

If you are in the Public Health Service:

U.S. Public Health Service Division of Commissioned Personnel, ODB
8455 Colesville Road 
Silver Spring, MD 20857 
Telephone number (toll free): 1-800-638-8744 
Website: http://www.usphs.gov/

If you accepted separation pay as an incentive or as compensation to leave the service, and then continued to serve in the Guard or Reserve after you separated and later became eligible for retirement, you must pay back your original separation pay. These payments are considered a form of retired pay. Your amount of pay was based on your years of service. When you eventually earned longevity retired pay from additional Guard or Reserve service, your retired pay is calculated using the same service years for which you already were paid. You can't be paid twice for the same service time, so your separation pay is recouped (or withheld) out of retired pay or from VA disability compensation.

Call 1-800-321-1080

There is nothing that specifically guarantees a former spouse a portion of a retiree's retired pay. A State court order must directly award a portion of the retired pay to the former spouse. The Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA) authorizes State courts to divide retired pay as a marital asset and to provides a way for former spouses to receive property awards through direct payments from the retiree's retired pay.

There is a strong belief among people that CRSC is a new form of pay, a third paycheck if you will, above and beyond any Service retired pay and VA comp amounts. CRSC is a third form of pay but it is not an amount in addition to Service retired pay and VA disability compensation. While technically it comes to you as a third pay check, it is pay that restores your Service retired pay for all or part of the VA Waiver amount being deducted from Service pay. CRDP on the other hand is not a third form of pay. CRDP is the return of Service retired pay by decreasing the VA Waiver amount in your Service retired pay.

CRSC is limited to combat injuries and as such that can be a significant limiting factor on the amount paid. CRDP is not limited to combat related disabilities so the amount is based on your total VA compensation and service retired pay. The combat related nature of CRSC is a basis behind its tax-free status while CRDP is taxable.

There may be times the amount of pay under CRDP is large enough that even after taxes it could be greater than a limited CRSC tax-free check. This is why your pay agency allows you a chance to select which version of pay you want during the 'open season' each December. Now that CRDP is phased in, your CRDP amount may provide you the greatest take-home pay.

Every December, retirees eligible for both Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) and Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC), are mailed a CRDP/CRSC Open Season Election Form. The election form includes a comparison of the your CRDP and CRSC entitlement amounts as well as information about the tax implications.

The open season election period is every January. All elections must be postmarked no later than Jan. 31. If no change is desired - no action is necessary. Election changes postmarked after this date will not be processed and your unchanged election will remain in effect until changed in a subsequent annual open season.

Typical processing time is 30 days. So look for your change to occur on the first business day of March if it does not occur in February. For March payment changes, you'll receive a retroactive adjustment for the payment that would have been paid on the first business day in February.

The passing of the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA) in 1983 recognized the right for the courts to divide a portion of a servicemember's retired pay to a former spouse. The USFSPA does not entitle a former spouse to any portion of the servicemember's retired pay, rather it allows the courts to treat disposable retired pay as property and therefore divide it as it sees fit. The specifics of the division are subject to the courts and the agreed upon divorce decree.

By law, a servicemember's service disability compensation is not considered part of the divorce property eligible for award to a former spouse. Specifically, service disability pay under the medical retirement law (10 USC Chapter 61) is not considered disposable retired pay for division as marriage property. However, VA disability compensation is not protected from the requirements of family or child support by a state divorce court as is commonly believed.

This program, administered by the U.S. Navy Mortuary Affairs, provides an option for burial at sea for eligible individuals. Because the ceremony takes place on a deployed U.S. Navy vessel, family members will not be permitted to attend. The family will be informed of the date, time, and the longitude and latitude coordinates of the committal ceremony by the commanding officer of the designated ship. More information about the program and locations for ports of embarkation can be found here.

The U.S. Coast Guard also performs burial at sea ceremonies for eligible individuals as their operational schedule allows. Generally, the Coast Guard only offers this service for cremated remains and will only allow for burial of whole, casketed remains with prior approval by a U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral or a higher authority.

Eligibility is open to the following individuals:

Active duty members of the uniformed services, retirees and veterans whose service ended for reasons other than dishonorable, U.S. civilian marine personnel of the Military Sealift Command, and dependent family members of active, former or retired uniformed servicemembers.

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) administers and maintains cemeteries and monuments that honor fallen U.S. war servicemembers who are buried overseas. You can access cemetery maps, memorial locations, and utilize their searchable database for those buried on foreign soil by visiting www.abmc.gov.

You, or a next-of-kin of deceased veterans,  can obtain copies of these documents from the U.S. National Archives & Records Administration through the following options:  

• The eVetRecs request system; a link and further instructions can be found here. 

• Standard Form SF-180 or a written letter to request records (if unable to obtain SF-180):  

Faxed requests: 314-801-9195   

Mailed requests should be sent to:
National Personnel Records Center
1 Archives Drive
St. Louis, MO 63138  

Further information and instructions on making requests using SF-180 or by written letter can be seen here.

The PMC Program was started by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 to honor the memory of honorably discharged, deceased veterans. The program has continued with all subsequent presidents. The certificate, which bears the president's signature, expresses the country's grateful recognition of the veteran's service in the armed forces. The PMC program is administered by the VA. Eligible recipients, or someone acting on their behalf, may apply for a PMC in person at any VA regional office, by U.S. mail or by toll-free fax. Requests cannot be made via email.  

To request a PMC, VA Form 40-0247 should be completed and submitted with a copy of the veteran's discharge document and death certificate. Please submit copies only; the documents will not be returned.   

Faxed requests can be made toll-free to: 1-800-455-7143 

Instructions for faxed requests can be found here.  

Mailed requests should be sent to:
Presidential Memorial Certificates (41B3)
National Cemetery Administration
5109 Russell Road
Quantico, VA 22134-3903  

To check on the status of a PMC you can call 1-202-565-4964 or send an  email to pmc@va.gov. Please allow for at least sixteen weeks before checking. 

Apply online, complete VA Form 10-10EZ and apply in person or mail the application to the following address:  

Health Eligibility Center 
Enrollment Eligibility Division 
2957 Clairmont Road Suite 200 
Atlanta, GA 30329-1647    

Or, call the VA toll free at 877-222-VETS (8387), Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.  

Yes. The purpose of the card is for identification and check-in at VA appointments. The ID card cannot be used as a credit card, an insurance card, or as a form of identification outside of a VA Medical Center. If you apply for VA healthcare and are assigned to Priority Group 8 or are not enrolled for any other reason, the VA will not issue an ID card.

On July 20, 2015, the President enacted the Veterans ID Card Act of 2015 that creates a new ID card for a veteran who is neither entitled to military retired pay nor enrolled in the VA healthcare system. While the card will not serve as proof of entitlement to any VA benefits itself, it will alleviate the need for veterans to carry their DD-214s. VA has not set a date when the cards will be available.

The length of time it takes to process a claim depends on the complexity of the disabilities claimed, the number of disabilities claimed, the timing of evidence submission, and the current workload of the VA Regional Office where you submit the claim. See our VA claims checklist for suggestions to make your claims process faster.

You can call the VA 1-800-827-1000 or send an electronic inquiry using the Inquiry Routing & Information System (IRIS) at https://iris.custhelp.com/app/ask.

The VA will provide eyeglasses and hearing aids to veterans who meet the following criteria:

SBP's greatest advantage is that it is COLA-adjusted. This feature helps keep SBP's purchasing power in step with tomorrow's dollar value. It is a permanently increasing product; all features of SBP are increased by the same percentage as the retiree COLA. The ratio of cost to benefit is constant.

The FY2015 NDAA includes a provision authorizing the payment of Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities into a special needs trust for permanently disabled dependent children.

A special needs trust exempts income from means-testing for assistance provided by state governments and social services.

DFAS must now establish and implement the administrative rules necessary to accommodate retirees who wish to designate a special needs trust as the recipient of their SBP annuity.

Notify your pay agent about the death, usually the Department of Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS). A Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) application form will be mailed to the surviving spouse.

Be sure to have the military member's social security number, the survivor's social number, certified copy of the death certificate, the date of death, your address and telephone number, and banking information for direct deposit (bank name, address, account and routing numbers).

No, this offset was completely eliminated as of April 1st, 2008.

Deductions from your retirement pay will be discontinued if your spouse dies before you do. To stop the SBP deduction, you need only send a copy of the death certificate or divorce or annulment decree to your pay agent together with a cover letter providing your complete name, Social Security number, and an explanation of your request.

No. If remarriage occurs before age 55, the annuity is suspended and can be reinstated if the remarriage ends in death or divorce of the second spouse. If remarriage occurs at age 55 or later, the annuity continues uninterrupted for the duration of the spouse's life.