The Marine Corps is telling commanders they must take care of families of service members who are kicked out because of dependent abuse. Federal law guarantees that these families receive financial support for 12 to 36 months after abusive service members are discharged for their behavior. Abused families can use the money for relocation, food, shelter, counseling, and medical treatment expenses. To qualify, their service-member sponsors must be separated from the military under a court-martial sentence, voluntarily or involuntarily separated from active duty, or sentenced at court martial to forfeiture of all pay and allowances because of their abusive behavior toward dependents. If the adverse court-martial convictions or administrative actions are overturned upon appeal, the benefits end. According to MARADMIN 385/12, "Commanders must ensure that when initiating an administrative separation of a service member involved in a dependent abuse incident that the notification includes depended abuse as part of the reason for separation." Failure to include such specific notification could delay payment of the benefits.
