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Surviving Spouse Of Retired Lt. Col. Retirement
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:56 am
by carlson1
I have a man who just passed away from cancer in my Church. We buried him yesterday. He was a retired Lt. Colonel from the United States Air Force. He was a man who took care of his wife well. He did everything.
They have seven children upon who six are still at home. She is afraid she cannot continue to draw his retirement. I cannot find anything any different on the internet. I want to help her and I cannot believe she cannot draw his retirement.
Can any of you that are retired military help me or point me in the right direction?
Thanks In Advance,
Carl
Re: Surviving Spouse Of Retired Lt. Col. Retirement
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:50 am
by Skiprr
Carl, I am no authority in any way, shape, or form, but my understanding is that retirement pay stops with the death of the veteran. The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) is subsidized by the federal government, and was created as a way for veterans to ensure continuing income for eligible family members, but it does require enrollment at the time of retirement and that monthly "premiums" be paid, generally in the form of a (small) direct reduction in the pension payment amounts. So it may very well be that the Colonel was enrolled and his wife not be aware of it.
Here is a place to start:
http://www.retirees.af.mil/. Check in particular the menu item for "SBP," and look at "Resources" for a variety of contact information.
We'll be praying for the Colonel's wife and family.
Re: Surviving Spouse Of Retired Lt. Col. Retirement
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:47 am
by longtooth
I will pray for them too. I will also call my son & see. He is retired USAF.
Re: Surviving Spouse Of Retired Lt. Col. Retirement
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 4:47 pm
by carlson1
We are worse off than I ever thought
KIA soldiers' spouses left behind without decent benefits
Thought you'd heard it all about our government's inexcusable and disgraceful failure to live up to promises made to our service members? You know, the people who maintain our freedom and make that government possible. The following is outrageous and way beyond sickening.
Submissions and info links will be updated as fast as I can, check back often.
Many of my comments might strike some as heresy coming from my usually-proud-American stance. Good, every word was chosen with great care. Above all, I value my rights and multiple opportunities for public expression.
Without the brave, we would not live in the home of the free.
The issues below are sitting in a pot that must be stirred. And watched more than diligently, before it boils over and burns everyone involved. Anyone who could contribute and does not, loses their right to complain. Eventually, so could we all and that won't be all we'll lose.
From Joyce Lindsey, wife of SSG Nathaniel Brad Lindsey, KIA 9/9/06, Shajoy, Afghanistan:
Since my husband's death I have realized many of the things he and I counted on, should he be killed, are not as we expected. One of these injustices is his military retirement. My husband was under the impression that it would be given to me, in full. That is not true.
Widows of our soldiers are only entitled to 55 percent until they either remarry under the age of 57, or die. However, if their husband is KIA they receive a death benefit payment called DIC. Their husbands' retirement is reduced dollar for dollar from the death benefit payment. In my case, I receive nothing from my husband's retirement because he was KIA. The DIC is a payment given to widows to replace the loss of income. This payment is $1,067 across the board no matter how many years of service the soldier has. I can assure you my husband earned much more when he was alive. Basically I am being paid for losing my husband but then being told that I am no longer entitled to his retirement which he paid for through his years of service. I also served, supporting him through three wars or conflicts and six deployments.
I was given the option of waiving my rights to his retirement and giving it instead to my children, which I have done. Since it was a situation of giving it to them or getting nothing, what choice did I have? However, my children will only receive it until they are 18 years old or 22 if in college, which means for us 9 - 13 years. I am only 46 years old, most of my husband's retirement will never be paid to anyone.
Bills before Congress (HR 1927 [companion bill to S 935]) will abolish this offset, allowing all widow(er)s of service members to receive their spouses' retirement even if they are receiving DIC payments. Please support this bill. Those left behind have already lost so much, should we also be penalized because our husbands were KIA?
Re: Surviving Spouse Of Retired Lt. Col. Retirement
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:58 am
by ELB
WRT to SBP for career military who retire after 20 or more years:
Under current law, at least when I retired in 2005, the only way a spouse would NOT get SBP payments is if she or he specifically signed them away at the time the member retired. This is not military policy, this is by statute, as I recall. The member cannot make this decision on his own -- the spouse must concur and sign paperwork to do this, otherwise the member's retired pay will be docked a premium, and the spouse will get the full SBP payment upon the member's death (until the spouse remarries or dies). As I recall, the full SBP payment is 55% of the member's retirement pay. (The member and spouse can also elect for a smaller SBP payment -- 35% I think -- and the member's retired pay will not be reduced as much as for full SBP.
This has been in effect for years -- I don't recall the exact date it came into effect, but I remember hearing about it very early in my career (maybe when I was in ROTC even), and I started on active duty in 1982.
So with reference to the OP, unless the wife took specific action to sign away her SBP payments, she should get a payment every month. It won't be equal to his retired pay, but should be some percentage of it. She should get a copy of his death certificate and go to or call the nearest military base and ask who handles retiree affairs, and they should point her in the right direction. (A bit of clever googling might give a direct number).
As for the other article Carlson1 posted, I dunno -- frankly it sounds a bit fishy. What is the source of it? Seems to me that if married KIAs families were really getting shafted, we'd have heard about it long before now. And I am not sure why one would expect the family of an active duty member, i.e. who was not retired, would get "retired pay" upon his death, altho I was not married for the vast majority of my career, so maybe I didn't pay attention to this bennie. Members do have access to fairly inexpensive life insurance (SGLI) that used to be capped at $100K, but I think now it can be purchased for amounts up to $500K. And upon retirement that can be converted to a retired version in the same amount that was maintained on active duty. Once a year I pay... $120 I think...and have $100K available to my wife if I go first.
Re: Surviving Spouse Of Retired Lt. Col. Retirement
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 1:04 am
by ELB
OK, here is the number she should call:
"SBP Eligibility:
Survivors should report retiree deaths to the DFAS casualty office at 1-800-269-5170. Faxes can be sent to the office at 1-800-469-6559."
From Military.com (my emphasis):
When a military retiree dies their retirement pay stops. This means that the surviving spouse will be left without a substantial income source. If you are a retiree you need to give serious thought to how you can protect your spouse from the hardships caused by the loss your retirement pay.
One option available to you is the Survivor Benefit Plan. The SBP is an insurance plan that will pay your surviving spouse a monthly payment (annuity) to help make up for the loss of your retirement income. The plan is designed to protect your survivors against the risks of:
Your early death;
Your survivor outliving the benefits; and
Inflation.
Survivor Benefit Plan Update: Participants in the Uniformed Services Survivor Benefit Plan for retired military members now have a new milestone to mark on their calendars.
Effective October 1, 2008, SBP participants who reach 70 years of age and have made 360 payments (30 years), will no longer have to pay premiums for continued SBP coverage and will be placed in "Paid-up SBP" status.
How SBP Works
At retirement, full basic SBP for spouse and children will take effect automatically if you make no other valid election. You may not reduce or decline spouse coverage without your spouse's written consent. This means you will have to have your spouses input in the decision and his or her signature is required. You may choose coverage for a former spouse or, if you have no spouse or children, you may be able to cover an "insurable interest" (such as, a business partner or parent).
NOTE: Survivors should report retiree deaths to the DFAS casualty office at 1-800-321-1080. Faxes can be sent to the office at 1-800-469-6559.
There's no good reason she should be without some payment, unless she signed it away at his retirement in order to have a bigger retirement paycheck.
Re: Surviving Spouse Of Retired Lt. Col. Retirement
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 1:04 am
by carlson1
http://www.therealmartha.com/SoldiersWidows/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I hope you are right ELB.
Re: Surviving Spouse Of Retired Lt. Col. Retirement
Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 4:57 pm
by ELB
So, Carlson1, whatever became of the woman in the OP?
BTW, I skimmed through the first page of that website in your last post, Carlson1, and I hate to sound unfeeling, but I do not see what the beef is about. The rules and benefits on how the military handles the death of a member, whether in combat or by other means, have been place a long time, they are not surprises to anyone paying the least bit of attention. It is noteworthy that there are no actual citations of promise to do more than what is in the law; just "assumptions" and what-not. Pay scales before and after retirement, SBP benefits, etc are published regularly, and all you have to do is stop by the personnel office and ask... Sorry, but anyone with or without a family in the military needs to be responsible enough to research their benefits -- particularly CAREER military, ESPECIALLY if you are going to war. The woman at that website complaining that she's not receiving her husband's $1500+/month retirement when in fact she not only is she being paid the same amount, but 2/3s of it are now
tax free, because those 2/3s are routed via the VA's DIC...jeepers, it's embarrassing.
