Basic Allowance for Quarters: Service Member Married to Service Member

An accounting officer questioned the propriety of paying basic allowance for quarters (BAQ) to two service members married to each other who indicated that their reason for marrying was to be allowed to live off base in civilian quarters and be paid BAQ. The finance officer asked whether the members' marriage was considered valid for the purpose of BAQ entitlement, and if it was not considered valid, should previous BAQ payments be collected from them. If the marriage were considered valid for BAQ purposes, he questioned whether BAQ paid to the members when they did not live together should be collected from them. The two members were granted permission to live off base in accordance with service policy, and were paid BAQ since family-type Government quarters were not available. Although they lived together for only a short time, the BAQ payments may not be recouped since: they were validly married, they were authorized to live off base, and they were not assigned to Government quarters. In a situation such as this, where it is clear that the members have no further intention of maintaining a family unit, the proper course of action is for the service to assign them to single-type Government quarters, if available, in which case BAQ would no longer be payable.