Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/mother-in-law become a dependant??

Advertisement

Expert: Rod Powers - 5/28/2007


Question
Hi my name is SSgt Jeremy Bales and I'm in the USAF. In about 40 days we are going to be PCSing to Eielson AFB, Alaska. So me and my wife were wondering because we've "heard" of mothers or mother-in-laws becoming dependants. She has the disease Lupus and just is going through some rough times and we think it would be best for her to live with us. Basically we just want her to have base access and to be able to live on base with us. I would appreciate any knowledge on this topic.

Thanks

SSgt Bales


Answer
Hi Jeremy,

You'll want to visit your local Air Force Finance Office. They can provide you with the forms you'll have to fill out in order to get your mother (or mother-in-law) listed as a dependent.

It's not very easy. You will have to show that you provide at least 51 percent of her total support. From experience (I tried -- unsuccessfully -- to get my Mother listed as a dependent, several years ago when I was on active duty), this can be hard to do, if she has any income of her own, such as pension plans or social security.

For example, let's say that she makes $900 per month in social security. You would have to show that her bills are at least $1,801 per month, and that you pay for at least $901 of that. That can be a very hard burden to prove (as I found out, in my own case).

If she is approved as a dependent, this will entitle her to transportation reimbursement to accompany you when you PCS (to dependent authorized locations), and to commissary and BX, and base privileges, but will not entitle her to Tricare. Federal law prohibits mothers and mothers-in-law who are "dependents" from receiving medical care under Tricare.

However, the law does allow parents or parents-in-laws, who are dependents to receive medical care at military treatment facilities (on base), on a "space-available" basis.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Rod Powers

Expertise

Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.

Experience

Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.

Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.