Special Bulletin

Education Provisions of Public Law 107-107 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002, which was enacted December 28, 2001.

• Transfer of Entitlement: the transfer of entitlement to basic educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty is permitted to one or more of a servicemember's dependents
• Who Can Transfer Entitlement: individuals allowed to transfer entitlement are those who, after approval by the service secretary concerned: (1) have completed six (6) years of service in the Armed Forces and (2) either have a critical military skill designated by the Secretary for transferability purposes; or are in a military specialty designated by the Secretary concerned for transferability purposes as requiring critical military skills; and (3) enter into an agreement to serve at least four (4) more years as members of Armed Forces.
• Eligible Dependents: transfers may be made to the individual's spouse, to one or more of the individual's children or to a combination of the above.
• Months of Transfer: the total number of months of entitlement transferred by an individual may not exceed eighteen (18) months
• Designation of Transferee: those transferring entitlement have to designate the dependent or dependents receiving the transfer; have to designate the number of months of such entitlement to be transferred to each dependent; and have to specify the period for which the transfer will be effective for each dependent designated.
• Time for Transfer and Revocation or Modification: an approved individual may transfer such entitlement at any time after the approval of the individual's request to transfer such entitlement and before the individual's delimiting date without regard to whether the individual is a member of the Armed Forces when the transfer is executed.  The transferring person may modify or revoke any unused portion at any time.
• When the Transferred Entitlement Can Be Used: for a spouse, transferred entitlement may not be used until the transferring person completes six (6) years of service in the Armed Forces; or, in case of a child, the completion of ten (10) years of service by the transferring person and, either the completion by the child of the requirements of a secondary school diploma (or equivalency certificate); or the attainment by the child of 18 years of age
• Administrative and Overpayment Issues Concerning Transferability: you must contact the US Department of Veterans Affairs

Implementation

Each military service's Secretary has the sole discretion to determine if that service will offer the Transferability of Entitlement option under the Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty (Chapter 30).  You will need to contact the US Department of Veterans Affairs regarding the Transfer of Entitlement.

Army Montgomery GI Bill Transferability of Benefits brochure

For additional information, contact the St Louis VA Regional Processing Office at 1-888-442-4551 or ask a question through the gibill website.