SCRA & MSRRA for Spouses & Families

Start here: what families get

Some SCRA protections extend to a spouse and dependents, and some do not. Here is what carries over to the family, and where the line falls.

• SCRA for Military Spouses & Families: What You Get

  What the SCRA gives spouses and dependents: eviction protection in your own right, the cap on joint debt, MSRRA tax residency, and license portability.

Keep one home state

The Military Spouses Residency Relief Act lets a spouse keep a single legal residency and tax state across every move, instead of switching each PCS.

• MSRRA: How a Military Spouse Keeps One Tax State

  Keep one home state through every PCS and elect the servicemember's state to cut income tax. Stop paying a state you live in only for orders.

• Pick Your Tax State: The Military Income Tax Election (SCRA)

  Since 2023, service members AND spouses can elect their tax state: home state, spouse's state, or duty station. Done right it erases state income tax.

In court: custody, divorce, and the home

Deployment should not lose you a custody hearing you could not attend, or the roof over your family. These are the protections that pause a case and block an eviction.

• SCRA in Family Court: Custody, Divorce & Deployment

  Deployment cannot be the sole factor against you in custody. Pause a divorce with the SCRA stay, and 50 U.S.C. § 3938 caps deployment-based temporary orders.

• Can't Be Evicted: SCRA Eviction Protection

  Rent under the federal threshold means no eviction without a court order, and the judge must pause it 90 days. 50 U.S.C. § 3951 turns a notice into a fight.

The rate cap on joint debt

A debt you signed together before active duty gets the same 6% cap, which lowers a payment the whole household makes.

• The SCRA 6% Interest Rate Cap: Complete Guide

  How to cut every pre-service debt to 6% APR with one letter: credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, student loans, retroactive to day one of active duty.

Find what applies to your family

Answer a few questions to get a personalized list of every right your household can claim, then run the numbers on the cap.

Benefits finder → · Eligibility checker → · Savings calculator →

Your state stacks more on top

Residency rules, lease exits, and tax treatment vary by state, and they shape most of what a family actually claims. See what applies where you are stationed.

Browse the state directory →