Am I Eligible for DIC Survivor Benefits?
This article will help you learn if you are eligible for DIC Survivor Benefits. Dependent and Indemnity Compensation Benefits fulfill the promise made by President Abraham Lincoln in March 1865. Less than a month prior to his assassination, Lincoln set up a compensation system which would “care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.” DIC recognizes the fact that military family members make almost as big a sacrifice as servicemembers give.
General eligibility for DIC benefits is rather straightforward. However, there are many nuances
which significantly affect the amount of benefits the survivor receives. Therefore, an effective
VA disability attorney is essential in these situations. Unless a lawyer evaluates your case, you
may never know what benefits you and your family Congress has entitled you to receive.
Amount of Benefits
In general, the VA disability benefits system recognizes the service that people performed and
tries to give something back to these individuals. DIC compensation fulfills basically the same
mission.
Baseline compensation for widows or widowers of servicemembers who died on or after January
1, 1993 is $1,340 per month. Generally, the servicemember must have died while on active duty
or as a result of a service-related injury or illness. Typically, in these latter instances, there were
contributing causes to the death aside from the service-related condition. Generally, such a
situation is a service-related demise.
The baseline compensation is available whether or not the Veteran was disabled. Additional DIC
benefits are available if the deceased Veteran was 100% disabled for at least eight years and the
marriage lasted for the entire eight-year period. Other allowances are available for Veterans who
left dependent children behind, and in some other cases, as well.
Eligible Persons
There are different DIC rules for surviving spouses and for other survivors, mostly surviving
children.
The first spousal qualification, which is a marriage prior to January 1, 1957, only applies in rare
cases nowadays. Most surviving spouses qualify under another provision of this law. Examples
include marriage to a servicemember who died during a period of active service, marriage to a
servicemember who died from a service-connected illness or injury, as long as the marriage lasted at least 15 years, and had a child with the Veteran and lived with the Veteran
continuously.
Divorced or separated surviving spouses might still be eligible for DIC benefits if the divorce or
separation was the Veteran’s fault and the surviving spouse has not remarried. Special rules
apply if the surviving spouse was at least 57 at the time of the Veteran’s demise or the
remarriage occurred after December 2003.
Surviving children are eligible for DIC benefits if they are under 18, under 23 and attending
school, or they are disabled. Surviving parents might be eligible for DIC benefits under more
limited circumstances.
Survivor Benefit Plan (SPB) benefits could limit DIC eligibility. SBP payments are tied to the
servicemeber’s retirement account. Generally, survivors are entitled to annuity SBP payments.
Connect With Dedicated Attorneys
Surviving family members of deceased Veterans are often entitled to financial benefits. For a
free consultation with an experienced Veterans disability lawyer, contact Cameron Firm, P.C.
at 800-861-7262 or fill out the contact box to your right. Because we are here to represent Veterans
nationwide.
This article is for educational and marketing purposes only. Therefore, it does not create an attorney-client
relationship.
