Mugdha Ravikant

A GI Bill® transfer is transfer of ownership of GI Bill® education benefits from a service member to another eligible family member. Read on to learn about qualification requirements and the actual process of transferring GI Bill® benefits.

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA). More information about educational benefits offered by the VA is available at the official U.S. government website at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.

The following active service members may be eligible to transfer GI Bill benefits:

All unused 36 months, or any remaining portion, may be transferred to an eligible individual or multiple individuals.

In addition, the servicemember must agree to serve an additional four years at the time of the transfer request. A request must be made and approved while the service member is still serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. For qualified servicemembers, a good rule of thumb is to make their transfer requests at least one year out from separation or retirement. This ensures the transfers will be approved before getting out.

It is also a good idea to request a transfer of at least one month of entitlement for each eligible family member while still serving. Doing this increases flexibility as far as moving benefits around after getting out.

Alternately, if precluded from extending a service obligation due to service branch or statute limitations, the serving member must have at least ten years of service at the time of the transfer request(s).

The rules for a Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer are different depending on who is receiving the benefits.

A spouse can start using their entitlement immediately upon receiving approval and up to the 15th year of the servicemember's last date of separation or discharge. In the case of a Selected Reservists, the timeline is 15 years from their last date of separation from an active duty tour of at least 90 days or more. Any remaining unused eligibility will be lost unless the sponsor (i.e. the veteran) of the benefit revokes it from the spouse and either keeps it for their own use or reallocates it to a dependent family member.

While there is not a specified age when a request for transfer of benefits can be made to an eligible dependent child, the child cannot begin using their transferred eligibility until after receiving a high school diploma or upon reaching their 18th birthday. The sponsor making the transfer must also have served for at least 10 years. Eligibility must be used no later than the child's 26th birthday or it will be lost too, unless the remaining eligibility is revoked and reallocated by the sponsor.

Note: Children born after the servicemember is out of the military are not eligible to receive a transfer of benefits as the initial transfer must be made while the servicemember is still serving.

Before a transfer of benefits request can be submitted, the eligible recipient must be enrolled in DEERS (Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System). Most family members are already enrolled, but if not, they must apply and already be in the DEERS database at the time of the Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer of benefits request.

An easy way to tell which family members are enrolled in DEERS is to log into the milConnect website with a Common Access Card, DoD Self-Service Logon or myPay credentials.

To make a transfer request from that same website:

Using the Transferred GI Benefit

There are several other factors that can impact either the transfer or use of benefits including:

NOTE: In both instances, the sponsor retains the right to revoke and either keep the benefits or reallocate to another eligible family member already having received a transfer of benefits.

NOTE: The combined number of months of benefits retained by the sponsor and those transferred to a spouse, family members, or a combination thereof, cannot exceed 36 months.

If a family member never had transferred benefits, or had benefits but used them up, they are still eligible to receive reallocated additional benefits either from the sponsor's retained benefits or those revoked-and-reallocated from other family members.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill payment structure is unique from any other GI Bill in that it pays in three different ways:

In the case of dependents using their transferred benefits, the MHA payment varies depending on certain conditions at the time of use by both the sponsor and recipient.

For example, if a spouse uses transferred benefits while the sponsor is still serving, s/he does not get the MHA, but does get their tuition paid and can receive the book stipend. But, if the spouse uses transferred benefits after the member is no longer serving, then s/he receives the MHA. On the other hand, dependent members receive the MHA (and get their tuition paid and receive the book stipend) even if they live at home rent free regardless if the sponsor is still serving.

A family member having a Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer of benefits can use them for most of the same programs covered by other GI Bills. Training must be conducted at a VA-approved education facility but the course of study can be either at a degree-producing school (including graduate) or a non-degree facility, including vocational, technical, flight, on-the-job and apprenticeships.

A GI Bill transfer of benefits can also be used as reimbursement for the cost of certain licenses, certifications, or certificate tests, along with paying for training. Also, certain college entrance tests are covered, like the GMAT.

Some military members are fortunate enough to have two GI Bills – the Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty (MGIB-AD) that they paid for, and the Post 9/11 GI Bill which is free for serving after September 10, 2001. However, when it comes to a transfer of benefits, only the later can be given to an eligible family member.

But because of this rule of transfer, a servicemember having both GI Bills must relinquish ownership of the MGIB-AD before making a Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer of benefits request. If not making a transfer, the servicemember has a choice of using all 36 months of their MGIB-AD, switching GI Bills and using an additional 12 months of Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, or switching right away to the Post 9/11 GI Bill and getting only the remaining unused MGIB months of eligibility and not the additional 12 months.

The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, more commonly known as the Forever GI Bill, influences the MHA payment. Currently, the MHA in part is based on the zip code of the school, but in the case of attending a satellite school, it is based on the location of the main campus.

That amount could be higher or lower than the location of the satellite school. So, after August 1, 2018, students using transferred benefits for the first time may receive more or less than other students who are already using their transferred benefits before that implementation date.

Violence broke out in Kansas in 1855 as a result of a stipulation in the previous year's Kansas -Nebraska Act, which allowed the citizens of the Kansas

replace () method supports regular expressions This tutorial shows you how to remove all whitespace from a string value Node js Series Overview

As per this circular by SEBI, if you haven't made any trades in 30 days , the money in your trading account will be sent to your primary bank account linked with Zerodha

Within the thrall of the internet, letter combinations take on brand new meanings. But if you’re not too keen on the latest web and texting lingo, then interpreting shorthand messages with abbreviations like IRL, FWIW or TFW can feel like trying to decode hieroglyphics.

But don’t fret if you can’t decipher the meaning of a text or social media post. Linguist and lexicographer Ben Zimmer says it’s helpful to know the abbreviations’ meanings, but most of them stay within the World Wide Web or text message bubbles.

“I’m surprised by how infrequently the acronyms end up in speech,” Zimmer said. “The abbreviations have been quite popular going back some 20 to 30 years, but the ones that get picked up in speech tend to be a handful.”

Zimmer said he likes to think of internet lingo as adding a new tool to better express ourselves online.

“With internet language, people are always experimenting with something new and embracing something new to play with,” he said. “The (online) language represents and shows the way people are coming up with new forms of interaction without anyone telling them how it should work.”

When we deal with these playful, digital forms of language, Zimmer explained, the rules can be loose; there is no guidebook.

If you feel you’re behind on internet abbreviations and want to take part in the playfulness of language, below are several of the most popular ones and their meanings. TTYL!

BRB — Be right back

FWIW — For what it's worth

IMHO — In my humble opinion

IRL — In real life

IKR — I know, right?

JSYK — Just so you know

NSFW — Not safe for work

NSFL — Not safe for life

NBD — No big deal

OMW — On my way

DM — Direct message

TFW — That feeling when

FTW — For the win

FOMO — Fear of missing out

TTYL — Talk to you later

ILY — I love you

JK or J/K — Just kidding

LMAO — Laughing my ass off

LOL — Laughing out loud

OIC — Oh, I see

OMG — Oh my God

RT — Retweet

SMH — Shaking my head

RBTL — Read between the lines

ROTFLMAO — Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off

chrjohnson@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @christenadot_