If a veteran's divorce became final on October 3, 2016, on which effective date will the spouse be removed from the award and benefits no longer paid?

The effective date for removing a spouse from a veteran's award and ceasing benefits is determined by specific regulations governing veterans' benefits. When a divorce is finalized, the spouse is typically removed from the benefit calculations effective the first of the month following the divorce finalization date. In this case, since the divorce became final on October 3, 2016, the spouse would be removed from the award effective November 1, 2016.

The rationale behind this timing is to ensure that any payments for the month in which the divorce occurred are accounted for before the benefits are adjusted. Hence, benefits continue until the end of October, and the changes take effect starting from November 1, 2016. This aligns with the practice of aligning effective dates with the start of the next month after a significant change in circumstances occurs.