IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 21 May 2015
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140016718
THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:
1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).
2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests correction of his record to show he elected Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) coverage for his spouse within one year of marriage.
2. He states:
* he is requesting an Exception to Policy (ETP) to add his spouse to his SBP coverage
* this is his first marriage and he incorrectly made the request shortly after the one year anniversary of his marriage
* it never occurred to him that he had only one year to add his spouse to his SBP
3. He provides:
* a self-authored statement
* a letter from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), dated
22 August 2014
* marriage certificate, dated 13 April 2013
* DD Form 2656-6 (Survivor Benefit Plan Election Change Certificate), dated 5 June 2014
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. On 17 February 1968, the applicant was commissioned in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR).
2. On 8 December 1992, the USAR Personnel Center notified the applicant he had completed the required years of service to be eligible for retired pay at age 60. At that time, he was eligible for Reserve Component (RC) SBP coverage; however, he was single and had no eligible dependents.
3. Orders P09-388497, dated 29 September 2003, show he was placed on the retired list with an effective date of 29 January 2004 in the rank of lieutenant colonel. He had the opportunity to elect SBP coverage; however, he still did not have any eligible dependents.
4. On 13 April 2013, the applicant married J______ C. L____.
5. On 14 April 2014, the applicant submitted a request to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) requesting to change his marital status from single to married. However, the request was unclear and the ABCMR returned his application asking for clarification of his request.
6. On 8 August 2014, the applicant sent a request to the DFAS electing spouse-only coverage for SBP.
7. On 22 August 2014, DFAS denied his request due to his request exceeding the one-year time frame to add a spouse from the date of his marriage on
13 April 2013.
8. On 9 September 2014, he submitted a request to ABCMR, along with DFAS's denial letter, asking for an ETP, stating he was unaware of the one-year time frame to elect SBP coverage for his spouse. He submitted a DD Form 2656-6 showing he elected spouse-only category of coverage at full retired pay for J____ C. C_______, his spouse.
9. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1448(a)(5), provides that a person who is not married and has no dependent child upon becoming eligible to participate in the SBP but who later marries or acquires a dependent child may elect to participate in the SBP. Such an election must be written, signed by the person making the election, and received by the Secretary concerned within 1 year after the date on which that person marries or acquires that dependent child.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant was single when he received his notification of eligibility for retirement. He did not have any eligible dependents for RCSBP coverage. On 29 January 2004, he turned 60 years of age and he was eligible for retired pay. He had the opportunity to elect SBP coverage, but again, he did not have any eligible dependents at that time.
2. The applicant was married on 13 April 2013 to J____ C. C______.
3. It appears that shortly before the closing of his one year enrollment window, the applicant became aware that he could enroll his new spouse in SBP. Just one day after the window closed, he sought enrollment through the ABCMR.
4. Given the speed with which the applicant acted once he became aware of the option to enroll his spouse and that he missed the window by only a day (though he sent his request to the wrong office), it would be appropriate, as a matter of equity, to correct the applicant's record to show he submitted a timely request for spouse-only SBP coverage within one year of marriage on 13 April 2013.
BOARD VOTE:
___x____ ____x___ ___x____ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected to show he submitted a timely request for spouse-only SBP coverage within one year of his marriage on 13 April 2013 and his request was timely received and processed.
___________x____________
CHAIRPERSON
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130001831
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140016718
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