Expert Answers to Your GI Bill Benefits Questions Topic: Hazelwood Act

Three of the requirements Ashley to receive and use Hazelwood Legacy Act benefits are you have to be:

• a Texas resident
• the biological child, stepchild, adopted child, or claimed as a dependent in the current or previous tax year.
• 25 years or younger on the first day of the semester or term in which you are using your Legacy benefits.

It sounds like you meet all three of these requirements.

The key is you have to use those benefits at a Texas state-supported school, so if you planned to be with your husband after he joins the Air Force, you wouldn’t be able to use your benefits if he was stationed outside of Texas. If you don’t plan to go with him, then you could stay in Texas and use them. The other issue is age, so if you go with him, you would have to come back to Texas before you reach the age of 25 and start school. You can have up to 150 hours of paid education, so it would be a shame to not use it and end up losing it, so if your mother makes the transfer, you will have to consider your actions carefully to make the best use of your benefits.

My question is, I did not use my GI Bill and it expired. Presently, I am using my Hazelwood Act benefit and we are Texas residents. Can I transfer my unused credit to my son, who is going to college this Fall 2011. – Ceferino

Just to be sure we are both on the same sheet of music, Ceferino, the unused credits you are talking about is your Hazelwood Act hours right? If your GI Bill is expired, you have nothing there you can transfer, even if it had a transfer option, (which it doesn’t).

Yes according to the Hazelwood Act rules, you can transfer any unused Hazelwood Act hours to a dependent under their Legacy Program. This is how they word it for dependent eligibility:

1.  Be a Texas resident;

2.  Be the biological child, stepchild, adopted child, or claimed as a dependent in the current or previous tax year;

3.  Be 25 years or younger on the first day of the semester or term for which the exemption is claimed (unless granted an extension due to a qualifying illness or debilitating condition), and

4.  Make satisfactory academic progress in a degree, certificate, or continuing education program as determined by the institution;

5.  If a child to whom hours have been delegated fails to use all of the assigned hours, a veteran may re-assign the unused hours that are available to another dependent child.

I can’t ascertain for sure how old your son is, but it sounds like he will just graduate from high school in the Spring, so he should be under the 25 age limit. If he meets the rest of the eligibility requirements, you should be able to make a transfer to him.