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Can I Use My Husband’s GI Bill Benefits?

January 13th, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
Question:  My husband is a Veteran and he is always telling me to go back to school.  He said that I can use his GI Bill to go back?  My friend is now in school, her husband is also a veteran.  She was told that we as spouses and children cannot use the GI unless he is active duty or KIA.  Please just let me know what the facts are to the GI Bill.  Who can use it?  We are a family of six, my husband, our four children, and myself.  We just need to know if only my husband is eligible.  Thank you so much for your help.  Raven Rayner

Answer:  Hi Raven, I’m afraid your friend is somewhat correct.  The provision allowing spouses and dependent children was added to the New GI Bill in August of 2009.  Only service members who were on active duty then, or since then are eligible to transfer education benefits.  If your husband happened to be on active duty at that time, he would have needed to extend for 4 years to be able transfer his benefits to you.  I recommend that you check with your state’s Department of Veterans Affairs.  They may have an education benefits program for military spouses.  I would also check with the relief organization that supported the branch of service your husband was in, such as Army Emergency Relief or the Navy/Marine Corps Relief Society.  The Air Force and Coast Guard also have their version, and they all have education benefits programs that you may be eligible for as the spouse of a veteran.  Lastly, I would check with the financial aid office of the school you would like to attend, they are sometimes aware of scholarships and grants for veterans and veteran’s spouses.

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Posted in New GI Bill, Veterans Education Benefits | 102 Comments »

102 Responses to “Can I Use My Husband’s GI Bill Benefits?”

  1. donna says:
    February 4, 2012 at 6:40 pm

    so if my husband served 4 years in the Marine corp and 4 years of inactive, can I use his GI benefit to pay for my school. He was active until 1993…

  2. Ron Kness says:
    February 6, 2012 at 8:04 am

    I’m sorry, but no you would not be able to use his benefits and for two reasons. One, if he got out in 1997, that means he would have had the Montgomery GI Bill. Unfortunately, that particular GI Bill didn’t have a benefits transfer option to it. And two, the Montgomery GI Bill has a 10-year shelf life, meaning it expired 10 years form his date of discharge, so at the latest, it expired in 2007.

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