§2147 Right of Member After Reenlisting to Transfer Entitlement to Spouse or Dependent Children

Summary

If a service member has education benefits and reenlisted after the enlistment that earned those benefits, they can choose at any time to give all or part of those benefits to their spouse or dependent child. For Navy and Marine Corps members whose benefit‑earning enlistment was their second reenlistment, the Navy can allow them to transfer benefits after four years of active service if that reenlistment was for at least six years. The member can take back a transfer at any time. If the member dies before choosing but never said they did not want to transfer, any unused benefits automatically go to the surviving spouse or, if there is no eligible spouse, to the dependent children. A surviving spouse who gets the benefits can pass them to the dependent children. Transfers must follow the rules set by the member’s military department. A spouse, surviving spouse, or dependent child who receives a transfer gets the same education help and the same rate as the member had. The total amount of benefits for the member and family together cannot be more than the member’s original benefit. If more than one person uses benefits for the same period, the living (subsistence) allowance is split how the member asks, or if the member did not say, how the Secretary of the military department decides. Definitions: dependent child — the meaning in section 1072(2)(D); surviving spouse — a widow or widower who is not remarried.