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Surviving Spouses | Military Legal Issues
Editor: HannahSend your legal questions/comments to Hannah at:
legalissues@4militaryfamilies.com
DISCLAIMER: Information provided by this site is meant as a
resource and does not constitute legal advice. No type of attorney client
relationship is established between the editor and the site members seeking
information.
This forum is intended to provide general information and is not meant as
a substitute for legal advice in your jurisdiction. If you feel your life
is in danger please contact your local law enforcement agency.
Legal Preparation for Deployment Getting legal affairs in order before departure will reduce stress during and after deployment. Among recommended actions to take before deployment are: prepare/update your will; grant Power of Attorney to your spouse, a close relative or a good friend; and make sure your family members all have their Military ID Cards. For more information on being legally prepared for deployment, click here. NOLO's Legal Tips for Active Military PersonnelTens of thousands of American military personnel are now overseas -- many of them pulled from their regular civilian lives to active duty. But what happens to their apartments, jobs and other parts of their lives while they're gone? Two important federal laws -- The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act (SSCRA) and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) -- give service people important support. Also, Congress may create a few helpful tax breaks. If you're in active service, follow the tips below to avoid financial hardship, prevent legal problems and ensure that you have a home and a job when you return: - Tell your employer as soon as you get your orders. Your employer must give you your job back when you return from up to five years of military service. But to take advantage of this protection, you must tell your employer, before you go, that the leave is for military service. (To be on the safe side, give this notice in writing.)
- Check to see whether your company will continue paying you (or continue your benefits). USERRA doesn't require employers to continue paying you while you're in service, or to continue paying for your benefits in most cases. However, many employers are voluntarily continuing to pay (and/or provide paid benefits to) those called to duty -- though they're not promising to keep this up if the conflict is a lengthy one. Many companies have, however, said they'll pay the difference between employees' military pay and their usual salary for an extended period of time.
- Contact credit card companies if your military pay will make it difficult for you to make payments. Many active duty personnel are entitled to a six percent cap on debts or financial obligations of any kind (except federally guaranteed student loans). To qualify, you must have taken out the loan before you began active duty, and your military service must materially affect your ability to pay the loan at the pre-active service interest rate. Contact your lender in writing, and include copies of your orders and paychecks, as well as evidence that you are now making less money than you did prior to active duty.
- If you're a tenant and need to cancel a residential lease or rental agreement, contact the landlord right away. Send a letter to the landlord explaining the situation and giving notice of your intent to terminate your tenancy. A lease or rental agreement will terminate 30 days after the date that rent is next due. For example, if rent is due on the first of June and you mail a notice on May 28, your tenancy will terminate on July 1. For more information see Every Tenant's Legal Guide (Nolo).
- If you must close your business and you have a lease, contact the landlord. Even a tenant with a long commercial lease can terminate it when entering active duty service. Send written notice to your landlord as explained in Tip 4. The lease will end in the manner explained there.
- Homeowners with mortgages should contact their lenders. No lender, including credit unions, banks and individuals, may foreclose on, seize or sell the homes of military personnel during active duty and up to three months thereafter. To be eligible for this protection, you must have taken out the mortgage before you began active duty. However, a mortgage lender can go to court to obtain special permission to foreclose if it thinks that you're really still able to pay the loan or appear in court.
- If you are involved in a divorce lawsuit, ask the court for a stay of proceedings. Active military personnel may ask for a postponement (stay) of divorce proceedings if they can show the court that their active status makes it impossible to attend the proceedings.
- When you return, get in touch with your employer right away. To take advantage of your right to be reinstated to your job, you have to report back to your employer within a certain time limit. These time limits range from 48 hours to 90 days after you return home, depending on the length of your military service.
- After you're reinstated, make sure you get what you're entitled to on the job. Under USERRA, you're entitled to any promotions, raises or other seniority-based benefits you would have earned had you not taken leave. And you're entitled to have your medical benefits reinstated, if they lapsed during your leave, without a waiting period or exclusion. Plus, you cannot be fired from your job, except for good cause, for up to a year after you return. For more information on these rights, see Federal Employment Laws: A Desk Reference (Nolo).
- Keep an eye on new federal tax legislation. Both houses of Congress recently passed legislation that would give military personnel some much-needed relief by making burial benefits, housing benefits and dependent care benefits tax free, and by allowing deductions for travel expenses incurred by those in the National Guard and Reserve, among other things. The legislation would also exempt military homeowners whose orders require them to relocate from some of the capital gains tax rules on home sales. Congress still has to work out some details and send the legislation to the president for signing, however. For information on tax breaks to which you're already entitled, see "Publication 3: Armed Forces' Tax Guide," available at www.irs.gov.
Copyright 2003, NOLO
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