PART III. LOUISIANA MILITARY FAMILY ASSISTANCE

§121. Definitions

For purposes of this Part, the following terms shall be defined as follows:

(1) "Activated military personnel" means a person domiciled in Louisiana for civilian purposes who names Louisiana as Home of Record (HOR) for military purposes, and who is any of the following:

(a) A member of a reserve component of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, including the Louisiana National Guard, and called to active federal service in excess of thirty days.

(b) A member of the Louisiana National Guard and called to active state service pursuant to R.S. 29:7.

(c) A veteran of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, as defined in this Section.

(2) "Board" means the Louisiana Military Family Assistance Board.

(3) "Family member," in relation to the activated military person, means the primary next of kin or an immediate family member. Immediate family member shall include:

(a) The spouse of the person.

(b) A natural child, adopted child, stepchild, or child born outside of marriage (if acknowledged by the person or parenthood has been established by a court of competent jurisdiction) of the person, except that if such child has not attained the age of eighteen years, the term means a surviving parent or legal guardian of such child.

(c) Any other person claimed as a dependent on the federal income tax return of the activated service person.

(d) A biological or adoptive parent of the person, unless legal custody of the person by the parent has been previously terminated by reason of a court decree or otherwise under law and not restored.

(e) A brother or sister of the person, if such brother or sister has attained the age of eighteen years.

(f) Any other person, if such person was given sole legal custody of the person by a court decree or otherwise under law before the person attained the age of eighteen years and such custody was not subsequently terminated before that time.

(4) "Honorably discharged active-duty military personnel" means a person domiciled in Louisiana who was on full-time active duty in the military service of the United States and received an honorable discharge.

(5) "Third party administrator" shall be one or more employees of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs designated by the secretary and approved by the board unless the board has entered into a cooperative agreement as provided in R.S. 46:123(C).

(6) "Veteran" means any servicemember of the United States Armed Forces who has met any of the following conditions:

(a) Completed either twenty-four months of continuous active duty or the full period of not less than ninety days for which he or she was ordered to active duty, other than active duty for training, and received either an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions.

(b) Completed at least ninety days of active duty and has been discharged under the specific authority of 10 U.S.C. 1171 or 1173, or has been determined to have a compensable service-connected disability.

(c) Has received a discharge with less than ninety days of service for a service-connected disability.

Acts 2005, No. 151, §1, eff. June 28, 2005; Acts 2006, No. 344, §6, eff. June 13, 2006; Acts 2010, No. 256, §1; Acts 2016, No. 185, §1; Acts 2016, No. 402, §1; Acts 2017, No. 60, §1; Acts 2018, No. 206, §5.