RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-02901
COUNSEL: NONE
HEARING DESIRED: NO
_________________________________________________________________
APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:
Her former spouses record be changed to show he elected former
spouse coverage under the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP).
_________________________________________________________________
APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:
She is entitled to the SBP and remains the members former spouse
under the plan.
In support of her request, the applicant submits a copy of her
divorce decree.
The applicant's complete submission, with attachments, is at
Exhibit A.
_________________________________________________________________
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
The Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS)
records show the applicant and the former service member were
married on 7 December 1971, and he declined SBP coverage prior to
his 1 February 1985 retirement. They divorced on 17 April 1996.
_________________________________________________________________
AIR FORCE EVALUATION:
AFPC/DPSIAR recommends denial. DPSIAR states the divorce decree
stated that the applicant is (or should be) named as the SBP
beneficiary. There is no evidence the member submitted a
voluntary election during either open enrollment periods that
followed their divorce. Although the court may have attempted to
award SBP to the applicant, the SBP law is very specific, in that
it does not allow former spouse coverage to be established unless
the former spouse was covered as a spouse when the member
retired. Absent such an election, the court does not have
standing to require a member to elect SBP coverage. There is no
evidence of Air Force error or injustice in this case, and no
basis in law.
The DPSIAR complete evaluation is at Exhibit B.
_________________________________________________________________
APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:
On 30 September 2011, a copy of the Air Force evaluation was
forwarded to the applicant and the former service member for
review and comment within 30 days (Exhibit C). As of this date,
this office has received no response.
_________________________________________________________________
THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:
1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing
law or regulations.
2. The application was not timely filed; however, it is in the
interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.
3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to
demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice. The
applicants contentions are duly noted; however, we agree with
the opinion and recommendation of the Air Force office of primary
responsibility and adopt its rationale as the basis for our
conclusion that the applicant has not been the victim of an error
or injustice. Therefore, in the absence of evidence to the
contrary, we find no basis to recommend granting the relief
sought.
_________________________________________________________________
THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:
The applicant be notified the evidence presented did not
demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice; the
application was denied without a personal appearance; and the
application will only be reconsidered upon the submission of
newly discovered relevant evidence not considered with this
application.
_________________________________________________________________
The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket
Number BC-2011-02901 in Executive Session on 23 February 2012,
under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:
The following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket
Number BC-2011-02901 was considered:
Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 20 July 2011, w/atchs.
Exhibit B. Letter, AFPC/DPSIAR, dated 13 September 2011.
Exhibit C. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 30 September 2011.
AF | BCMR | CY2012 | BC-2011-05066
The applicant and service member were provided an advisory (Exhibit C) prepared by SAF/GCM on similar cases considered by the Board. The applicant has not demonstrated that extraordinary circumstances exist as required for this Board to grant relief in cases of competing SBP beneficiaries. Exhibit E. Letter, Applicant, dated 27 March 2012.
AF | BCMR | CY2012 | BC-2012-01351
DPSIDAR states that there is no evidence of Air Force error in this case; however, in the absence of a competing claimant and to prevent a possible injustice, they recommend the decedent’s record be corrected to reflect he elected former spouse coverage based on full retired pay, naming APPLICANT as the former spouse beneficiary, effective 11 January 2005. _________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: The pertinent military records of the...
AF | BCMR | CY2012 | BC-2012-02422
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2012-02422 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO IN THE MATTER OF: (APPLICANT) _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: Her former spouse’s records be corrected to show he made an election for “former spouse” coverage under the Survivor Benefit Program (SBP), naming her as the beneficiary. ______________________________________________________________ THE...
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Neither the applicant nor the member made a deemed election for the SBP within a year of the divorce, as required. ___________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPSIAR does not provide a recommendation per AFBCMR guidance because it involves two potential SBP beneficiaries. Since the applicant has failed to demonstrate that extraordinary circumstances existed that would override the failure to effect the former spouse coverage, based on the...
AF | BCMR | CY2012 | BC-2012-00454
To comply with federal law, AFAFC established spouse coverage based on full retired pay under the SBP, updated the applicant’s date of birth as the eligible spouse beneficiary and began deducting premiums from the service member’s retired pay. The DPSIAR complete evaluation is at Exhibit B. The Board has been advised that it can consider cases involving potential claims by more than one spouse or former spouse if there is evidence that the member or former spouse timely notified...
AF | BCMR | CY2011 | BC-2011-02192
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-02192 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO ___________________________________________________________ __ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: Her former spouses records be corrected to reflect he made a timely election for former spouse coverage under the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP). The service member elected spouse only coverage under the SBP at full retirement pay. Since the applicant...
AF | BCMR | CY2012 | BC-2012-00128
DPSIAR states there is no evidence of Air Force error in this case; however, in the interest of justice and absent a competing claimant, DPSIAR recommends the member's record be corrected to show he elected SBP former spouse coverage based on the previous reduced level of retired pay effective 31 May 2007, naming his former spouse as beneficiary. To date, a response has not been received (Exhibit C). _______________________________________________________________ THE BOARD RECOMMENDS...
AF | BCMR | CY2010 | BC-2010-02160
In support of his request, the applicant submits copies of his divorce decree, marriage certificate, DD Form 2656-1, Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage, DD Form 2894, Designation of Beneficiary Information, retired account statements and letters to and from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). He sees no extraordinary circumstances that would support not enforcing the deemed election requirement given the fact correcting the record in...
AF | BCMR | CY2011 | BC-2011-04870
There was a miscommunication; she thought she had one year from the date her former spouse signed the DD Form 2656-1, Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Election Statement for Former Spouse Coverage to comply, not one year from the date of the divorce. The complete DPSIAR evaluation is at Exhibit B. The applicant has not demonstrated that extraordinary circumstances exist as required for this Board to grant relief in cases of competing SBP beneficiaries.