Recent changes to DoD guidelines have modified the requirements that military dependents with permanent disabilities must meet to retain eligibility for military benefits.
To access military benefits and keep their military ID cards, DoD now requires financial dependency determination recertification every four years. With these requirements effective now, Armed Forces Mutual members with permanently disabled adult children must immediately seek the the appropriate financial dependency redetermination – submitting the necessary paperwork to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) – for their children if they have not done so within the last four years.
As a reminder: redetermination requires completing and notarizing the DFAS form DD Form 137-5.
Every four years, you must submit a completed a financial dependency determination (DD Form 137-5) to DFAS, along with an approved medical sufficiency statement (completed by a medical doctor or psychiatrist), to your nearest military ID card (DEERS) location. Be sure to include the following documents for your dependent adult child upon submission:
- Social Security Disability Annual Statement
- Employment stubs from the previous year
- Proof of bill payment from the last 12 months, demonstrating that the servicemember is paying for more than 50% of the dependent child's expenses
If your child has an "indefinite" expiration date on their military ID card, you will still need to submit a DD Form 137-5 to DFAS. Call your DEERS location to confirm whether or not your child needs to be physically present for any part of the recertification process.
For further information, call DFAS at 888-332-7411. Choose option #4, then option #2, then option #5, then choose their branch of service.
You can find your local military ID card (DEERS) location by going to: http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl
You can watch an online DFAS video on filling out the DD Form 137-5 here: https://youtu.be/LI5j2CXKBSE