New to Military Life - What To Do
by: Bridget Daniels Carlson
Congratulations on your new marriage! Everything may seem confusing at first, as the Military often will make almost every task seem impossible. You may be asking yourself what are we suppose to do now. Well this page is here to help you. The list below is in order of what should be done.
Get several certified copies of your marriage license. This may mean that you will have to wait to do any of the following steps until your marriage license has been registered with the state. But you must have it before you can complete the following steps.
Enroll in DEERS. Usually this step and the following step can be done together as they are usually in the same office (ID office).
Get a Military Dependant ID card. This card should be guarded with your life. It has your sponsors social security number on it which if placed in the wrong hands, such as an identity thief, could ruin your spouses credit and cause years of stress. This ID card also tells providers that you are indeed a Military Dependant and rate their coverage, discount, entitlement, or whatever the case may be.
Enroll in Tricare Prime. You can choose standard, but standard has out of pocket expenses. The pro to standard is you do not have to see a Military doctor. Go to your local Tricare office to get enrolled into Tricare. It will be up to you during the enrollment process if you want to enroll in Prime or Standard. If you are stationed OCONUS, different rules apply, so check with your local Tricare office.
Enroll in United Concordia. You do this by going to the United Concordia website and filling out an enrollment form. You are not required to enroll, but it will help with dental costs. There is a monthly premium that has to be paid and is done so by having an allotment set up through your spouses pay.
Have Wills and Life Insurance updated. Wills and Life insurance policies will need to be updated, so schedule an appointment with your local JAG office to get this done.
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