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Benefits limited for military divorcees

SGT. SHAFT
June 18, 2007

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
    Are there any benefits for a woman who just divorced after 18 years of marriage? I was married to a military man the whole time and have three children.
    Thank you,
    Celoris
    Via the Internet
    
    Dear Celoris:
    My source at the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) advises me that as an unremarried former spouse divorced after September 1988, you are eligible for medical coverage for one year after the date of the divorce, provided you do not have an employer-sponsored health plan.
    Upon expiration of this one-year period, you are entitled to elect coverage within 60 days, at a cost, under a Defense Department continued health benefits program. Cost is $933 per quarter. You are no longer eligible for commissary, exchange, or morale, welfare and recreation programs.
    Your children will retain their medical benefits and exchange privileges, but lose commissary entitlement if they live outside the sponsor's household. You will need to get a new ID card. Your former husband's service makes the final determinations about entitlement to benefits. If you remarry, all benefits are forfeited.
    You also may be entitled to a share of your former spouse's retirement pay, but that's up to state divorce court to decide.
    

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