How do I transfer my GI Bill® to my spouse or child?
Request the transfer in milConnect while you are still serving, and set the months for each family member. After your branch approves it, each family member applies to VA, online or with VA Form 22-1990e, and gets a Certificate of Eligibility.
Authority38 U.S.C. 3319, 38 CFR 21.9571Registerteb, teb-apply-family, teb-who-gets, teb-split
Transcript
- Asked, plainly. How do I transfer my GI Bill to my spouse or child? Asked by a parent thinking about transferring
- Request the transfer in milConnect while you are still serving, and set the months for each family member.
- After your branch approves it, each family member applies to VA, online or with VA Form 22-1990e, and gets a Certificate of Eligibility.
- The law behind it. 38 U.S.C. 3319, 38 CFR 21.9571. The full answer is at wegotyou1776.com/questions
- We Got You 1776. Plan around your education benefits. wegotyou1776.com/questions
How does this apply to you?
If you are briefing
The steps for a brief: request in milConnect while serving and set each family member’s months; the branch approves, with the agreement to serve 4 more; each family member applies to VA, online or with VA Form 22-1990e, for a Certificate of Eligibility.
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If your child or spouse is using your months
Once your branch approves the transfer, your spouse or child applies to VA, online or with VA Form 22-1990e, and gets a Certificate of Eligibility. A spouse can use the months right away.
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If you have already separated
If you have separated, retired or moved to the Individual Ready Reserve, a new transfer can no longer be started. Months already transferred can still be moved among the family members you named, in milConnect.
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Where do I request a GI Bill transfer?
In milConnect, while you are still serving. The Defense Department decides transfers, and your branch approves the request.
Registerteb, teb-apply-family
What form does a family member use for transferred months?
VA Form 22-1990e, or the same application online. Each family member applies after the branch approves the transfer, and gets a Certificate of Eligibility.
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Do I have to give all 36 months to one person?
No. You can transfer up to 36 months and split them among family members in any amount, and change the split later for months VA has not yet paid out.
I have the Montgomery GI Bill, can I transfer it to my kids?
Only the Post-9/11 GI Bill can be transferred. Requesting a transfer converts you from the Montgomery GI Bill to the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and that cannot be undone.
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What is the Certificate of Eligibility for transferred months?
VA’s letter that the benefit is the family member’s to use, sent after VA approves the application. By law VA sends it electronically unless the person asks for mail.
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How does a transfer go, from eligibility to the first class?
A transfer starts with the member. In milConnect, while still serving, the member requests the transfer, which the Defense Department calls Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB), and sets how many months each family member gets. A member needs at least 6 years of service and agrees to serve 4 more; a Purple Heart recipient does not need the years of service or the added service, and still requests the transfer while serving. There is no maximum years of service, and the law has barred one since December 20, 2019.
The Defense Department decides transfers, and the member’s branch approves the request. Only the Post-9/11 GI Bill can be transferred. A member who has the Montgomery GI Bill, Chapter 30 or 1606, is converted to the Post-9/11 GI Bill by requesting a transfer, and that cannot be undone.
The months go to a spouse, children or both, and each one must be enrolled in DEERS. Up to 36 months can be split among them in any amount, and the split can change later for months VA has not yet paid out.
After the branch approves, each family member applies to VA, online or with VA Form 22-1990e. VA then sends the Certificate of Eligibility, its letter that the benefit is the family member’s to use; by law it is sent electronically unless the person asks for mail. A spouse can use the months right away. A child can start once the member has served 10 years and the child has a high school diploma or equivalent or turns 18, and uses the months before 26.
The request has to come before the member separates, retires or moves to the Individual Ready Reserve. After that, a transfer cannot be started and a family member cannot be added, unless a family member already named dies. If the member does not finish the added service, the family loses the transferred months, and what VA already paid becomes the member’s debt alone. VA lists exceptions, among them death, illness or injury, a hardship discharge and a reduction in force.
By We Got You 1776, LLC.
Other ways people ask this
- how do I give my GI Bill to my wife
- how do I pass my GI Bill to my kids
- what are the steps to transfer the Post-9/11 GI Bill
- how to transfer GI Bill to dependents
- how does my child apply for my transferred GI Bill
Related questions
- Is it worth reenlisting so I can transfer my GI Bill to my kids?Asked the way a parent thinking about transferring asks
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Terms (3)
- Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33)
- 38 U.S.C. 3312(a), 38 U.S.C. 3313(c)(1)
- The Post-9/11 education benefit: up to 36 months that pay tuition and fees to the school, a monthly housing allowance set by the campus ZIP code, and a yearly payment for books and supplies. How much it pays depends on how long the member served (the eligibility tier).
- Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB)
- 38 U.S.C. 3319(b) and (c), 38 CFR 21.9571(b)
- Giving Post-9/11 GI Bill months to a spouse or children, the member’s dependents in DEERS. The Defense Department decides it: a member with at least 6 years of service who agrees to 4 more can transfer up to 36 months, requested through milConnect while still serving. VA’s rule calls it transfer of entitlement.
- Certificate of Eligibility (COE)
- 38 U.S.C. 3698A(a)(1)
- VA’s letter that a benefit is yours to use. A family member using transferred months gets one after applying to VA, online or with VA Form 22-1990e. VA sends it electronically, with mail as an option.
From The Order Matters, The Terms, Plainly, and terms added or reworded here since, which go into the book at its next update.
Art from this page (3)
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See all the artSources (11)
The official sources this answer is built on, the law first, then the official pages.
- 10 U.S.C. 1072Who counts as a dependent: the definition a transfer of months uses
- 38 U.S.C. 3319Transfer of Post-9/11 GI Bill months to a spouse or child
- 38 U.S.C. 3698ACertificates of eligibility and award letters sent electronically
- Public Law 116-92National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, section 578: no maximum years of service for a transfer
- Public Law 118-210Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act: the Fry 120-day case, final-term housing, electronic letters, notice of policy changes, a transfer overpayment owed by the member alone
- 38 CFR 21.9571Transfer of entitlement
- VA Form 22-1990eApplication for a family member to use transferred benefits
- VA.govTransfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits
- VA.govAfter you apply for education benefits
- DoD milConnectRequest, change or revoke a transfer of Post-9/11 GI Bill months
- DoD milConnectTransfer of Education Benefits guide, version 4.5, March 2026
The full list is on Sources and Official References.
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| College Tool | Version 1.2.3, App Store and Google Play | |
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| Official sources | Citation register, 110 sources |
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