Noteboom The Law Firm

Veterans' Surviving Spouses to Receive Retroactive Payments

Just before the New Year, the Department of Veterans Affairs compensated nearly 11,000 surviving spouses of deceased veterans with a lump-sum payment to correct an error in their VA benefits. At issue is a 1996 federal law that makes a surviving spouse eligible to receive the veteran's VA compensation or pension benefit for the month of the veteran's death.  VA failed to properly implement that law in all cases.

Most likely to have been affected by this problem are surviving spouses who never applied for VA survivors' benefits following the death of a veteran.  Eligible for the payment are surviving spouses of veterans who died after Dec. 31, 1996.  The Department doesn't have current addresses for many of them, which makes the process of contacting them difficult.

VA has established a special Survivor Call Center (1-800-749-8387) for spouses who believe they may be eligible for this retroactive benefit.  The Call Center is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Central Standard Time.  Inquiries may also be submitted through the Internet at http://www.vba.va.gov/survivorsbenefit.htm.