VA Benefits for Surviving Spouses and Dependents
It is often said that the family serves with the service member – and the same is true when that service member separates from active duty and becomes a Veteran. Our thanks and support are also owed to the family members of our veterans, especially as many family members assume caregiver roles for their disabled veterans. As we continue to celebrate and honor November as National Veterans and Military Families Month, we encourage our families to learn about important benefits that may be available when their veteran family member passes away.
The death of a loved one is an incredibly intense and grievous time. The experience is often further complicated when survivors are unaware of available benefits, or have a difficult time accessing needed benefits and services. Many survivors do not even know they may be entitled to benefits. However, a little planning can ease the burden of accessing needed benefits.
Below is an excerpt from an article written by one of our staff attorneys, Brandy Disbennett-Albrecht, for the American Law Institute’s (ALI-CLE) Journal, The Practical Lawyer. In her article, “A Primer on Veterans’ Disability Benefits,” Mrs. Disbennett-Albrecht discusses some of the main benefits available to survivors and important considerations for loved ones that may need to access survivors benefits from the VA.
For additional information from the US Department of Veterans Affairs regarding all family member benefits, click here.
Excerpt from “A Primer on Veterans’ Disability Benefits:”
As a first rule of thumb to survivor’s benefits, nothing is automatic. VA will not automatically award any benefit to a survivor without first receiving a claim from the survivor.[1] Thus, after the death of a veteran, the survivor should be prepared to interact with the VA and file a claim. Often survivors do not know that they may entitled to benefits, or that they need to apply separately. In addition, the survivor generally has one year following the death of a veteran to file a claim in order to maintain the earliest effective date for the survivor’s benefit (the day after the veteran’s death).[2]
The two primary types of survivors’ benefits are similar to the two primary types of veterans’ benefits. The first is known as Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), and the second is survivor’s pension.
DIC
DIC benefits are paid to a survivor when the death of a veteran is due to service-connected disabilities.[3] The service-connected disability may be the principal cause of death (e.g., if the veteran was service connected for coronary artery disease and his cause of death was cardiac arrest) or a contributory cause of death, meaning that the service-connected disability “aided or lent assistance to the production of death.” For example, some underlying diseases, such as diabetes, may make it more difficult to fight off an infection which ultimately is the cause of death.
In addition to showing a relationship between a service-connected condition and the veteran’s cause of death, DIC may also be established where a veteran’s disability was rated permanent and total (100 percent disability rating) for at least 10 years immediately preceding his/her death.[4]
The base payment rate for DIC benefits is approximately $1,400 per month. However, this rate is subject to cost-of-living increases.[5] As with the veteran’s compensation rate, this is also a tax-free benefit.
Military retirees may have paid into the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), an annuity program managed by the Defense Financial and Accounting Service. There are particular opt-in periods offered to the active duty service member or retiree; generally, the retiree must have opted in by his/her retirement from the military.[6] If the retiree did opt in to the annuity, the retiree will pay into the annuity throughout his/her life and the survivor will become entitled to monthly taxable benefits from the SBP annuity upon the veteran’s death.[7]
Until recently, a survivor entitled to both DIC and SBP would have their SBP payment offset by the amount of DIC; essentially, the survivor was only collecting the amount that was equal to the greater of the two benefits. However, Congress made changes to SBP within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020.[8] This change will phase out the offset requirement and allow for a survivor to maintain full entitlement to both SPB and DIC without any offset.[9] Some survivors may have already begun to receive both benefits in full, but the phase-out process will be complete for all survivors in 2023.[10]
Survivors pension
Similar to veteran’s pension, […] a survivor may also be entitled to a pension. First, the veteran must have the requisite service requirements for pension, as noted above. Then the surviving spouse has to have a net worth and income below the requisite limits. While the net worth limit is the same for surviving spouses, the maximum annual pension rate is a little lower than for a veteran. The maximum annual pension rate for a single surviving spouse is less than $10,000.[11]
Burial benefits
VA does offer a modest burial benefit award, but the amounts vary depending on the circumstances of the veteran’s death, including whether the death is related to a service connected disability.[12] VA may also pay a separate one-time stipend for the veteran’s plot or interment.[13] This amount too may vary depending on whether the veteran is buried or interred in a state veterans’ cemetery.[14] State cemeteries may vary in some respects as to the cost of a burial or whether a spouse or dependent is also eligible to be buried, but generally, state cemeteries will offer an accessible way to lay a loved one to rest and have their service memorialized.
VA also provides other memorial items such as headstones and markers, burial flags, and Presidential Memorial Certificates.[15]
In sum, there are many considerations for potential survivors to consider. It is imperative that important end-of-life documents also provide keys to the survivors to direct them to any potential VA benefits. When beginning the inquiry into any survivor benefit, the most important document a survivor could have is a copy of the Veteran’s DD-214. This document should be preserved with other important end-of-life documents to help with necessary eligibility determinations. Other important documents to maintain include the veteran’s last decision notification from the VA or the most recent “Summary of Benefits” letter, a letter which contains information related to benefit type and amount and military service information. These letters are automatically sent to the veteran each year (usually around March or April). If the veteran is a retiree, enrollment documents for SBP (if applicable) should also be preserved.
[1] 38 C.F.R. § 3.152.
[2] 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(c)(2).
[3] 38 C.F.R. § 3.5; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312.
[4] 38 C.F.R. § 3.22(a). A survivor is also entitled if the veteran was rated 100 percent disabled continuously since release from active duty and for at least five years immediately preceding death, or for one year preceding death if the veteran was a prisoner of war.
[5] US Dept of Veterans Affairs, 2022 VA DIC Rates for Spouses and Dependents, available at https://www.va.gov/disability/survivor-dic-rates/.
[6] Military Compensation, Survivor Benefit Plan Overview, https://militarypay.defense.gov/Benefits/Survivor-Benefit-Program/Overview/
[7] Defense Finance and Accounting Services, Start a Survivor Benefit Plan Annuity, https://www.dfas.mil/RetiredMilitary/survivors/ApplySBP/
[8] PL 116-92 Sec. 662(12/20/2019); https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1790
[9] Id.
[10] Id.; see also Defense Finance and Accounting Services, SBP-DIC Offset Phased Elimination News, https://www.dfas.mil/RetiredMilitary/survivors/SBP-DIC-News/
[11] US Dept. of Veterans Affairs, 2022 VA Survivors Pension Benefit Rates, https://www.va.gov/pension/survivors-pension-rates/. MAPR for survivors also increased based on household size or disability.
[12] 38 C.F.R. §3.1700.
[13] 38 C.F.R. §3.1707.
[14] Id.
[15] US Dept. of Veterans Affairs, “Honor a Veteran or Reservist with Memorial Items,” https://www.va.gov/burials-memorials/memorial-items/