Legislation extends residency rights to military spouses

The House Veterans' Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee unanimously approved a bill in late June extending residency rights to spouses of service members.

Sponsored by Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, the bill was approved by voice vote. The bill affects spouses of service members who accompany his or her military spouse to temporarily live in another state for military duties.

The bill amends the Servicemember's Civil Relief Act, a law that allows soldiers to keep one state of residency regardless of where military orders send them. It is intended to prevent soldiers from having to re-register to vote, obtain new driver's licenses, maintain property titles and simply state income tax filings. Currently spouses are not covered.

"Over the course of their spouse's career, they face multiple changes of voter registration and drivers licenses, will pay income tax to a state they never intended to live in, and likely not have their name on any property titles," Carter said at a June 19 Economic Opportunity Subcommittee hearing.

Carter said by extending property and title rights to spouses, it will ensure the spouse proper legal protections in the event of a divorce.

Carter added that allowing couples to claim the same state of residency could lead to savings in property and income taxes if military orders take them to a state with higher tax rates.