How does this work, repayment of military enlistment bonus?

Question

My son signed on for five years, he was paid an enlistment bounus of $6,000. when he completed A school. He ran into some trouble and was discharhed with an "Other than Honorable". He served 22 of 60 months

The package of papers he was given included travel orders, DD214, evaluation's, but nothing about repayment of that bonus, although he said, they told him he would have to pay it back. If he needs to repay this, should'nt there of been some information in this package saying how much he owed, what the payment options were, where to send the payment and so forth?

Any info appericated.

Thanks

Answer 1

When your son gets his final pay package from the Navy, up to two months after he is discharged they should account for it there. They will mail him a multipage document that will show in detail his final pay distribution from the Navy. They will keep any money owed to the Navy for the enlistment bonus and if there is any remaining money that he stilll owes it will be repaid to the government via the IRS sysytem. When he works in the civilian world and files taxes each year they will keep whatever amount of every refund until he has repaid the government 100%. If he doesn't file taxes to try to avoid paying he will then just get a lump sum bill from the IRS and that amount will accumulate late fees and interest. Best bet is to pay the amount directly to the Navy Personnel Department the did his separation. This will not go away by ignoring it so it is best to just be honest and give the Navy back the money your son did not earn in it total amount.

Answer 2

Your son did not get any paperwork on the repayment of his bonus, because technically it did not become a debt until the day after he separated from the military. Had he been extended on an appeal or for other reasons he would have continued to be entitled to his bonus. Now that he is out, DFAS-Denver will process this as an out-of-service debt. A debt letter, with instructions, will be mailed to the address he put on record when he out-processed. Best thing to do is pay back the debt in full once the notice is received. If that is not possible, a repayment schedule can be worked by contact the DFAS. Prorated repayment does incur an administrative fee of $15 and interest charges. Worst case scenario is to do nothing at all, then the Government will do a combination of tax liens and wage garnishments to collect the outstanding balance, plus interest and fees.

Answer 3

Sounds like the with dependents issue either didn't get submitted or wasn't processed by the cut off date for pay. It also sounds like they are maybe taking the bonus back in bulk which they are allowed to do. It isn't a mistake and they aren't doing it wrong or paying her wrong. She is getting what they are entitled to pay her (what is left of pay after they take out what is owed) They are only required to give you 1/3 of your pay if you owe money to the government. I don't understand where her BAH is going because even as single rate (which would more than like pay the rent plus some) she should be getting that money while deployed.. Best thing to do is talk to your landlord and explain the situation. See if they will let you pay it up when you get it. If she wasn't getting with dependent rate BAH they will back date that to when she was placed on active duty status so she will get that amount in bulk. Her pay will go back to normal once the bonus is paid back. If she only owed 3 grand which is kinda an odd amount but okay then she shouldn't owe much more on it by the sound of things. Edited to add: A few questions... Was this her first enlistment? How long was she in before she got pregnant? How big was the bonus and how much of it did she actually recieve? 3 grand just sounds like an odd amount to owe and with it being that low and her being on AD I don't see them taking it all at once if they where taking payments before. Something just isn't adding up here. Either you're not aware of the whole story or you're not telling it. Is there any possiblity that the mother could be hording the money or that the girl is having it go to another account somewhere. This is why the Military tells people to put things on allotment.... it keeps things from not being paid ie rent, insurance, loans that type of thing. DFAS will pay all of those things automatically regardless of if you owe them money and take what they want from what's left (leaving you no less than 1/3 of your base pay).

Answer 4

An enlistment bonus is normally paid half up front, with an annual prorated payment on the anniversary of the enlistment.

So the good news is that having served 22 out of 60 months instead of $6000 he may only owe $3600 assuming he received $3000 as the initial 50%, plus the first anniversary payment of $600 at 12 Months, and no second payment due to discharge at 22 months.


The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) will determine how much he owes, and bill him at his home of record address. Failure to pay the bill, or arrange a payment plan if the option is available would result in efforts to garnish whatever wages he is earning.

Ask your son if he knows how to access his MyPay account at DFAS. Its the online system for him to see his Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) which is the military's pay stub. DFAS should register the debt amount on his final LES, and the web site may have contact information for him to make arrangements to settle it.

Answer 5

My name is Beatrriz Ngayan my question is my ex husband enlisted in the military for another 4yrs while we were married. that was in 2008 I believe. We got a divorce in 2010 due to domestic violence/child abuse. Now he is claiming that he has to repay the full amount of 8,000 and since he got hat when we were married. I have to help him repay that money. I want to know is tat true what can I do to protect my self. I haven t seen any documents to prove that.

Answer 6

i realize this is a navy question but in the army AIT (Advanced Individual Training) = A school. ok, the soldiers dont recieve the bonus until after graduation of their AIT once they get to their first duty station. i am assuming that your son didnt have the $6K deposited into his account yet. if this is the case then the repayment is made by not paying the money to him at all. but on paper it will look like he repaid it.

have i lost you? send me a email and i will try to elaborate if you need it.

Answer 7

They have his home of record on file. Once the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)(who pays us), processes the the paperwork, he will be contacted. If he fails to pay they will garnish any wages he is earning. I hope he is able to land on his feet.

Answer 8

sounds like if he failed to complete the enlistment he would be required to repay the unfulfilled pary of the bonus

Answer 9

If he was discharged with an OTH or BCD, yes, he will have to make arrangements to pay it back,

He needs to speak to Finance.