(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, a member of the naval service entitled to basic pay is entitled to a BAH at the monthly rates according to the pay grade to which he or she is assigned, in accordance with 37 U.S.C. 403.
(b) The term ``dependent'' with respect to a member of the naval service, as used in this part, means:
(1) His or her spouse;
(2) His or her unmarried child (including any of the following categories of children if such child is in fact dependent on the member: A stepchild; an adopted child; or an illegitimate child whose alleged member-parent has been judicially decreed to be the parent of the child or judicially ordered to contribute to the child's support, or whose parentage has been admitted in writing by the member) who either:
(i) Is under 21 years of age; or
(ii) Is incapable of self-support because of a mental or physical incapacity, and in fact dependent on the member for over one-half of his or her support; and
(3) His or her parent (including a stepparent or parent by adoption, and any person, including a former stepparent, who has stood in loco parentis to the member at any time for a continuous period of at least 5 years before he or she became 21 years of age) who is in fact dependent on the member for over one-half of his or her support; however, the dependency of such a parent is determined on the basis of an affidavit submitted by the parent and any other evidence required under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy, and he or she is not considered a dependent of the member claiming the dependency unless:
(i) The member has provided over one-half of his or her support for the period prescribed by the Secretary; or
(ii) Due to changed circumstances arising after the member enters on active duty, the parent becomes in fact dependent on the member for over one-half of is or her support. The relationship between a stepparent and his or her stepchild is terminated by the stepparent's divorce from the parent by blood. [44 FR 42190, July 19, 1979, as amended at 65 FR 62617, Oct. 19, 2000]