GREGORY CHANDLER - MILITARY SPOUSES RESIDENCY RELIEF ACT

In May 2010, I wrote about the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (MSRRA). I am back to the MSRRA again with more detail.

On November 11, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the MSRRA. The MSRRA directly impacts military families (more than 50% of all service members have a family) who on average move every three years to a new duty station and reservists mobilized or serving on active duty. Prior to the MSRRA, the Service members Civil Relief Act (SCRA) allowed a U. S. service member to maintain his or her original state of residency despite moving to a different state or country.

However, no such benefit was available to the service member's spouse. As a result, his or her spouse was required to obtain a new driver's license; re-title personal property (automobile, boat, etc.); re-register to vote; and, in many cases, file a separate income tax return (if the service member does not claim the new state as his or her state of residency) every time the family was assigned to a new duty station.

The MSRRA amends the SCRA to provide every service member's spouse with the same benefit as the service member. The MSRRA provides that a nonmilitary spouse will not (1) be deemed to have lost a residence or domicile (whether or not he/she intends to return to that state), or be deemed to have acquired a new residence or domicile by virtue of residing in a state with his/her spouse while on military orders; (2) have his/her income classified as income earned in a tax jurisdiction if the spouse is in the state solely as a result of his or her spouse's military orders; and (3) suspend land rights residency requirements for a spouse accompanying his or her service member spouse on military orders. This allows the nonmilitary spouse to avoid all of the difficulties listed above upon moving to the spouse's new duty station. For example, the SCRA allows a Texas domiciled military resident to maintain the state of Texas as his or her state of residency despite being stationed in California, Germany, South Carolina, or any state or country. The MSRRA now allows the same rights and privileges to the service member's nonmilitary spouse.

GREGORY CHANDLER, Attorney at Law
Colonel, U. S. Army Reserve

e-mail AttatLawGC@gmail.com