Planning/Hypothetical

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Planning/Hypothetical

by travelingohana

Jul 19, 2016

I am hoping for some insight from some of the gurus out there. I am a local hire, LI Mild/Moderate. My husband has been active duty for 25 years and nearing retirement. Last night we were discussing him retiring at 27 rather than 30 years. If he opted to retire at 27 would it be possible for me to switch from a local hire to status where I could stay working overseas and get living quarters allowance? He would like to get his teaching credential and thought he would be stay at home dad/house husband/student for a couple of years. We love it here and I would love to stay longer if he retires. Thanks for any input, guidance, etc.!

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haha There was a long, relatively helpful thread about this subject on the DoDDS Teachers Facebook page. I would join if you are not a member (and search for it if you are).

I generally recall that it was fairly difficult to pull off but that it did depend on some specific, technical factors. Maybe the Sheriff will share his expertise on these ...See More

Jul 19, 2016

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From just what you have written, you won't, repeating, WILL NOT, be eligible for LQA, nor for any of the other CONUS-Hire recruitment incentives. That said, there are several exception situations and you might match one, but, the routine retirement of the military sponsor-spouse who intends to remain in the location is *definitely* *not* one of the...See MoreFrom just what you have written, you won't, repeating, WILL NOT, be eligible for LQA, nor for any of the other CONUS-Hire recruitment incentives. That said, there are several exception situations and you might match one, but, the routine retirement of the military sponsor-spouse who intends to remain in the location is *definitely* *not* one of the exceptions (but, see below for an exception to this exception re your own retirement date's potential impact).

The FEA is responsible for the legal victories that authorize *all* of the exception situations, so if you are not an FEA member now, you need to join *today* because even if you're a perfect match to one of the exceptions, you will definitely need FEA's assistance to advocate and negotiate the process *correctly* with DoDEA HR Benefits Section.

(My experience over MANY years with MANY other Converted-to-Permanent (but never transferred so without the CONUS-Hire incentives/benefits) local hires in your *exact same* situation is that DODEA Benefits Section will do whatever it can to delay, obfuscate, frustrate, and even *improperly* deny your application. Their stance basically is: why grant benefits to this local hire when we can just hire another local hire when this one resigns in frustration? (and DoDEA won't have to pay a new local hire any benefits either, so there's no down-side to preventing your goal from the agency's point of view)

Some of the exceptions do get routinely approved, notably when the sponsor dies or is otherwise permanently incapacitated. Legal divorce situations also exhibit a somewhat higher routine approval level. But, yours is a completely discretionary/just-because-we-like-it-here situation so you will need to "gird your loins" for a long drawn out process with setbacks being routinely encountered, and, until your fight for benefits is won, you need to be able to afford living where you are without any LQA at all, and then, if this process lasts more than two years from date of husband's retirement then at that point *he* forfeits *forever* his own gov't paid shipping and transportation entitlements, which directly impacts you and any dependents entitlements for gov't-paid return to States transportation ... are you feeling just a bit vulnerable yet?)

DoDEA's form to see the exceptions is linked below. Be aware that *none* of these exceptions rise to the level of entitlement, i.e. even if you are a perfect match, you can still be denied benefits by the agency. When, not before, your husband is actually retired, use this form to apply to HQ's Benefits Section for grant of the benefits you seek. You may be thinking of submitting it earlier than the date of spouse's retirement, i.e. ask for a "pre" determination whether or not you will get the benefits, but you will 99.94&37; of the time receive an unhelpful non-answer saying, in essence, "no determination can be made until/unless you submit actual/valid documentation of the exception being applied for". BTW, the DoDEA gory details webpages are still unavailable, but the form is normally there too.

I note that an additional exception, also won solely by FEA's legal efforts, is not (yet) on this linked form. This additional exception is if *you* will be within 7 years of *your* own retirement as of the date of sponsor's retirement and loss of these benefits. Some/all of these benefits such as LQA, Shipping, Transportation, etc. might be authorized, however, in this exception situation, you would be OBLIGATED to actually retire from DODEA not later the end of that allowed 7 years. Again, none of the exception situations are guaranteed entitlements.

http://www.feaonline.org/media/transfers/Eligibility_determi nation_request_form.pdf

If/when this link breaks then manually remove any spaces (erroneously inserted by this chatboard's obsolete software) and retry, else Google for "REQUEST FOR DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR FOREIGN ALLOWANCES AND TRANSPORTATION BENEFITS"

My ~standard advice~ is avoid the above process, if at all possible, by officially transferring to a new commuting area and gain all the benefits that way. A different method, a. no-doubts-about-it method, is for you to permanently return to the States via your husband's PCS a/o Retirement/Separation orders. If you want, youn elect to return sooner rather than later using Early Return of Dependents (ERD) orders that your husband can arrange. Once back in the States, apply as a CONUS-Hire from there. Assuming have left DoDDS on excellent terms, when you are CONUS-Hired then you will have all the CONUS-Hire benefits you are seeking and this will be true irrespective of your husband's location, or his retirement from active duty date, or even his possible continuation on active duty. (FYI: should your husband become a teacher and become a DoDDS local hire, he will then have an opportunity to more fully appreciate the challenges of maintaining/improving a career while partnered to another federal employee ;))

On 7/19/16, travelingohana wrote: > I am hoping for some insight from some of the gurus out there. > I am a local hire, LI Mild/Moderate. My husband has been active > duty for 25 years and nearing retirement. Last night we were > discussing him retiring at 27 rather than 30 years. If he opted > to retire at 27 would it be possible for me to switch from a local > hire to status where I could stay working overseas and get living > quarters allowance? He would like to get his teaching credential > and thought he would be stay at home dad/house > husband/student for a couple of years. We love it here and I > would love to stay longer if he retires. Thanks for any input, > guidance, etc.!

Jul 20, 2016

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travelingohana Thank you for your responses. That information is exactly what we needed to make some decisions. The best option (okay the only viable option lol) is for my husband to stay active duty and retire from Marine Corps at 30 years. He should be able to extend in our current location so I can remain at my school and our children can remain at their schoo...See More

Jul 20, 2016

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