Military widows asked to repay benefits after remarriage

Military widows asked to repay benefits after remarriage
Daniel Trotter

Brooksville, Florida (CNN) -- Freda Green thought the battle was over when her husband returned from the Vietnam War.

But more than seven years after his death in 2003, she says the U.S. Defense Department is demanding she repay more than $41,000 in benefits the government shelled out as part of an insurance policy he paid into.

"They gave me 45 days to pay it back," said Green, 74, who claims the federal government began garnishing her benefit payments when she couldn't pay it all back at once.

"They said 45 days, and two weeks later they started taking it out of my check," she said.

Green says $577 is now being deducted from her military benefit check each month. The reason: She got remarried last year.

It is a confusing section of a federal law that affects some 57,000 military spouses and their children who receive military benefits and are now being forced to pay Uncle Sam back after walking down the aisle again, according to Norb Ryan, a retired Navy vice admiral and president of the Military Officers Association of America.
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Military widows asked to repay benefits after remarriage