On June 14, 2023, President Joe Biden signed into law the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2023, which directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide a cost-of-living adjustment for Veterans benefits in 2024 equal to the COLA...
Financial advisers are reporting that the increase in annuities for retired Massachusetts government workers, military retirees, and veterans is expected to be lower next year after the largest cost-of-living adjustment in four decades occurred in 2023. This news is...
In a Massachusetts divorce, a military pension is considered a marital asset and is subject to division. If at the time of your divorce, the parties failed to litigate or divide the pension pursuant to M.G.L. Ch. 208, 34, namely your former spouses military pension,...
The Defense Department may increase Basic Allowance for Housing levels from 95% to 100% of housing costs, which could result in troops with families in Massachusetts receiving an average of $100 to $184 more per month. This change would eliminate the cost share that...
The Defense Department has released guidelines for the expansion of the military parental leave policy. The memo signed by Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr., the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The memo applies to all service members and is effective as...
Are you looking for your service records, or those of a family member? The National Archives in St. Louis, MO, is the official repository of millions of records for all military personnel—from all service branches—who served during the late 19th and 20th century. ....
Here’s some good news, regardless of how long a service member has been in or whether they retired from the military, their children can continue to have Tricare until they turn 21. However, if a service member leaves the military before they have enough service for...
The American military has had an impact on popular culture, whether it’s movies, fashion, or your political preference. And for better or worse, the argot of the military has seeped into everyday language, and we commonly use terms derived from it without thinking...
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) offers protections for service members and their families in many different areas ranging from mortgages to life insurance. For example, the SCRA frequently makes certain rights available conditional upon whether your ability...
In 1982, a law was passed called the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA), which gave Massachusetts and other state divorce courts the ability to treat military retirement pay as marital property that can be divided between the spouses. The 10/10...