Add spouse to DAV

Anyone know how to add a spouse to the disabled vets system to update my DAV ?

She is already on DEERS, but I can't find the way to add her without snail-mail the docs .. I found E-benefits, but keep getting locked out when I try to add Genie as my dependent.


ON EDIT: I got into a VA site and added a spouse/dependent online ... was NOT simple, but got it done.
- you can add or delete or change status of any dependents.

It won't let me copy the link -- but the site is under VA E-benefits ... on google search.

Whew...glad Genie's finally legal Monkey! :laugh:

Yes, right John - altho it only changes the legal part Paperwork, you know ! Only took us five years living and RV'ing together to decide we are not a one-night stand.

Another comment on the "add a spouse" -- once I got signed up on the VA E-benefits page -- which is quite a chore in itself. The e-page took all my info, then it said :: OK, you've been submitted and we have your application. We expect this to be ruled on sometime between February 2017 and October 2018 ... End of transmission.

Now, I'm wondering why it takes VA over a year to add a spouse ?? That's bizarre ... So, because we only have one VA office that I can find near us St Pete, and it never, ever answers its phone, I'll find one on the road when we take off in May, and talk directly to a VA rep .... It's beyond my comprehension that VA sets up a website to more efficiently (according to itself) collect information from Vets, and then it takes over a year to get a response.

if you belong to vfw or dav, amer legion, they have reps that canhelp ya and they know the va systems inside out supposedly. I have never used but when I retired I was told to join all since you could never tell when ya needed help.

Yeah - Lifetime member of DAV, but can't get them to answer the phone. I'm still pursuing it - but my point too was why it takes A YEAR to add a spouse online, and the get an appointment takes almost that long. That's crazy !!!

Just to follow up here ... I stopped at both a DAV office and a Florida State Vets office. Both simply looked into a computer, told me "Yup, the application is in." That's it, that's all the help. It in fact took almost five months to add her, and I finally got a letter stating she is now classified as "spouse" - plus back paid Bennies to the date of application.

I do notice when I got divorced a few years ago, it only took ONE month to stop her benefits, and I got a letter almost immediately. Same with Tricare - almost immediate. Altho adding Genie to TFL only required a trip to the base and obtaining her ID and adding her to DEERS.

One other issue here - for those with a S&B house and a VA loan. YOu cannot add your spouse to the loan if you have a mortgage. To protect your spouse entitlement to a residence (if she's not a veteran) it requires a complete refinance and all the closing costs again. We fought that a while, came to a compromise. YOU CAN, however, add her to the DEED at the town offices without REFI. THEN, if you meet the MCG in the sky before her, she can assume the loan as long as she is qualified. Anyone needing more detail on this issue contact me direct and I'll share - it is quite a struggle due to all the paperwork, and the banks wanting duplicate fees for the same loan ... was huge headache, and took months and months. And, we are with NFCU and have been over twenty years - still a true struggle. But if you begin this journey - DO NOT take "NO" for an answer ... that's the first answer you will get.

ONE other fact - for those vets that try to lower interest rate on existing VA loan with the IRRIF Program, it still requires complete closing costs again on the loan, so watch those costs especially the three percent funding fee - it really adds up, and you should take care to account for all the costs before REFI ... it's not cheap, and will often offset any interest savings. Matter of fact, if we'd have done it that way, it would have taken twelve years to break even on costs vs savings. So, be careful what you wish for.