Person With A Natural Insurable Interest
If you don’t have a spouse or kids you can elect SBP coverage for a person with a natural insurable interest in the member. This usually includes business partners.
The Department of Defense defines a natural insurable interest as “a natural person with an insurable interest who has a reasonable and lawful expectation of financial benefit from the continued life of the participating member, or any individual having a reasonable and lawful basis, founded upon the relation of parties to each other, either financial or of blood or affinity, to expect some benefit or advantage from the continuance of the life of the retired member.” If the election is for a person who is more nearly related than a cousin, no proof of financial expectation is required.
Discuss your situation with a licensed financial advisor.
What If The Veterans Child Is Adopted
A child can also be the veterans adopted child, as shown by evidence that the veteran legally adopted the child before they turned 18. Proof of this would be a copy of the adoption decree or of the adoptive placement agreement.
A child that is the biological child of the veterans spouse, former spouse, or surviving spouse may qualify for benefits as the veterans stepchild.
The marital and biological relationship would have to be established, and the veteran must show that the child currently resides in the veterans household. If it is for DIC benefits, the surviving spouse must show that the child resided in the veterans household at the time of the veterans death.
Getting Ready To Buy A Home Find A Trusted Va Lender In Just A Few Minutes
Some VA lenders are tailored for borrowers with weaker credit, while others offer a larger variety of VA loan types. The best way to determine if you are eligible is to start by connecting with a lender. Lenders can pull your Certificate of Eligibility in minutes to see if you meet the basic service requirements and have VA loan entitlement. Additionally, a lender can review your financial information to determine if you meet credit and income guidelines.
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Three Types Of Benefits For Surviving Spouses
The different kinds of benefits involve different application requirements and result in different payouts. Some are more flexible than others. Others pay out as single benefits to cover specific costs while others payout monthly for the life of the surviving spouse. We break down the three main types here.
Understanding The Survivor Benefit Plan
The Survivor Benefit Plan, or SBP, allows retired service members to allocate a portion of their retired pay to a spouse or other eligible beneficiary after their death. Every retiring service member with an eligible spouse or child receives automatic enrollment in the Survivor Benefit Plan at the maximum level.
Only retirees pay into the Survivor Benefit Plan. It is not an insurance policy its an annuity.
If you are on active duty and have a spouse and/or children, they receive automatic protection under the Survivor Benefit Plan at no cost to you, should you die while still on active duty. If you are divorced, your former spouse may receive benefits instead of your current spouse based on the requirements a court-ordered divorce decree has imposed, so its important to ensure you make the appropriate changes to your policy.
Learn how the Survivor Benefit Plan works.
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Student Eligibility For The Military Sbp
The SBPs child annuity payments typically end when recipients turn 18. Children are eligible to continue receiving payments until the end of the school year during which they turn 22, as long as they remain unmarried and attend one of the following full time:
- Accredited vocational institute
- Accredited college or university
The certification process has gotten easier for students age 18 and older covered as a child annuitant under the military Survivor Benefit Plan.
The changes went into effect in May 2020, highlighted by the following:
- A simpler certification form
- A students ability to self-certify
- An extension of the certification deadline to annually instead of each term/semester
SBP annuity payments for qualifying high school and college students are not affected by school closures in the wake of coronavirus disease 2019.
The DOD simplified the process of students becoming certified in other ways, including:
- Students will now self-certify. So they will no longer need a school officials signature or school documentation when they certify full-time attendance. With COVID-19 school closures, this truly simplifies the process.
- Simpler Child Annuitants Certification for Previous Attendance Letter for certifying past attendance.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service details the new certification process on their website, including all the changes. Make sure to complete the updated Child Annuitants School Certification form.
Why You Need To Talk To Your Spouse About Dod Death Benefit Before Retiring
Editors note: This column has been corrected to reflect the origin of the benefit and the monthly percentage.
If you are retiring from active duty, one of the DoD benefits you must make a decision on in your last days of service is the Survivor Benefit Plan, or SBP. This is a government benefit that you and your spouse must accept or decline together, in person, at the Retirement Services Office during your final out-processing. Have this discussion together beforehand and dont let it catch you by surprise.
Here are a few things you need to know:
SBP is basically insurance for your pension . Active duty members can purchase coverage upon retirement and reserve component members can elect coverage when they have 20 years of qualifying service for reserve retired pay. You pay a monthly premium that is based on your pension. Bottom Line: without SBP, your pension dies with you and your spouse gets nothing. With SBP, your spouse will continue to get 55% of your pension until they die or remarry until age 55. Heres a link to the DoD Actuary Page with a calculation tool to help you run the numbers.
Heres how it works:
SBP also has a plan for your kids if something happens to both you and your spouse. Your kids would draw the annuity until your youngest child turns 18.
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Are There Any Military Spouse Retirement Benefits
Military retirement often marks the end of a long road.
As a military spouse, you’ve put in months of waiting on your service member to come home from long trainings or deployment, all while holding down your home and taking care of your family. You’ve battled career challenges for yourself, planning disasters, cross-country moves and everything Murphy’s Law could throw at you.
But other than the long-sought break from the challenges of military life, what’s in military retirement for you? Although your service member is who put on the uniform every day, military retirement isn’t without perks for military spouses or ways that you can still benefit from the community.
And while all of the benefits available to you are by virtue of your spouse’s service, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take full advantage of them.
Death Benefits For Survivors Of Veterans
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You are paying for the veteran’s burial and funeral costs.
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No other organization will reimburse you.
You must be the surviving spouse, legal partner, child, parent, or executor/administrator of the veteran’s estate. The veteran:
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Must not have received a dishonorable discharge
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Must have died under one of several certain circumstances, such as they:
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Were receiving a veterans pension or compensation
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Had a claim open for compensation or pension
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Died while receiving VA care
These examples are not a complete list.
For more information, contact the VA or call them at .
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Military Spouse Benefits After Death
Fact checked by Brain Bartell
It is well known that as the spouse of a military member on active duty or a Veteran, you are entitled to various benefits. But did you know that there are military death benefits for spouses as well?
U.S military death benefits are available in a range of aspects, including health care, Internet access, and insurance, among others.
Keep reading this article on military spouse benefits after death for the details. By the end, you should have a complete understanding of military survivor benefits!
If you are a Veteran wishing to know what your spouse and/or children are entitled to in the worst case scenario, you will want to start with the answer to, What happens to my military retirement pay when I die? Well, the short answer is that it stops. That being said, the answer to, Does my spouse get military retirement after death? is also unfortunate: no.
So, are your hands tied? Luckily, NO!
There are after-death benefits that can support your spouse and/or children. Continue reading to get an idea of what they are.
Who Qualifies For Va Survivor Benefits
The VA has criteria in place to determine who a veterans surviving spouse is and who can qualify for VA survivor benefits. There are several requirements that spouses of veterans must meet to be eligible for DIC. The requirements are as follows:
- A surviving spouse must have married a service member who died on active duty, active duty training, or inactive duty training, or
- Married the deceased Veteran before January 1, 1957, or
- Married the veteran at least one year before the veterans passing, or
- Had a child with the veteran and lived with the Veteran until their death. It is important to note that during the marriage, there must be no separations unless the surviving spouse was not responsible for the separation.
A surviving spouse must have married a veteran who died due to a service-connected injury or disease, and the marriage must have begun within 15 years of the veterans discharge in which caused the disability.
There is also a strict criterion for remarried surviving spouses. Usually, a remarried spouse is not eligible for DIC benefits however, in some cases, eligibility would depend on the date of remarriage. Spouses who remarry after age 57 and remarried on or after December 16, 2003, can still be eligible to receive DIC benefits.
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Surviving Spouses And Children Of Deceased Military Service Members And Veterans Can Get Dic Or Death Pension Benefits
There are certain cash benefits that are available to survivors of deceased active duty members and deceased veterans. Some of these programs are for low-income families only, and others are based on the veteran’s service-connected disabilities . These cash benefits for survivors include dependents indemnity compensation , accrued disability compensation benefits, and death pension. .)
Survivor Benefit Plan And Veterans’ Affairs Dependency And Indemnity Compensation
Department of Veterans Affairs Dependency and Indemnity Compensation was established in 1956 by the Servicemen’s and Veteran’s Survivor Benefit Act.37 “Under this Act, as amended, DIC is paid to the survivors … of servicemen or veterans who died on or after January 1, 1957, from: a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty while on active duty or active duty training or an injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty while on inactive duty training or a disability compensable under laws administered by the VA.”38
A service member can, for example, contract a disease or incur an injury during active duty or active duty training, recover and return to active duty, retire from an active duty or Reserve Component military career and participate in the SBP, and subsequently die because of complications resulting from the original service-related disease or injury. The surviving spouse or former spouse of the retiree is then entitled to DIC payments from the VA. In this situation, however, the surviving spouse or former spouse of the retiree is notentitledtoreceivethecombinedtotaloffullSBPandDICbenefits. Instead, the SBP benefit is offset by the amount of DIC received .39 This offset occurs regardless of the retiree’s enrollment in the SBP Supplemental.
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Can I Start A Disability Claim For My Uncle Mom Or Neighbor
Anyone can get a claim started, but due to privacy and the information we will be working with, some connection to the deceased member of the active military will be required in the process. Beneficiaries of the claim can be the veterans surviving spouse, children, or grandchildren if the direct children have already passed away. If you have helped a veteran by covering their last illness and burial expenses, you can also file for an accrued claim to be reimbursed for those expenses.
If you are unsure of what is available to you or your friend, your best bet is to call an expert and explain your case.
The Affordable Connectivity Program
A surviving spouse or child entitled to the Death Pension is also eligible for the ACP.
This program will offer up to $30 every month to the Internet provider so that you have a discounted Internet subscription.
In addition, you will get a one-time discount of up to $100 for the expenses of a device that accesses the Internet. The device can be a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet. But it cannot be a mobile phone, large phone, or phablet that enables mobile calls. Plus, its cost cannot exceed $150. A household can only have one device.
- Note: You need to show eligibility via a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs or copies of ID docs.
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Benefits For Spouse Of A Military Retiree
Did you know that, as the spouse of a retiree, you may be eligible for a number of benefits? There are many things for which you may be eligible, including medical insurance, free legal assistance, property tax discounts and more.
While no list can cover all the benefits to which you are entitled, this page lists some of the bigger ones.
As the spouse of a military retiree, you may be eligible for:
Eligibility For Death Pension
A surviving spouse is eligible at any time until remarriage, whereas a surviving child is only eligible if he or she is:
- less than 18 years old,
- under the age of 23 and attending a school approved by the VA, or
- had a injury or illness prior to age 18 that caused a permanent disability such that the child cannot support himself or herself.
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If My Husband Was A Veteran Should I Get Accrued Benefits
You might be eligible to receive benefits through an accrued benefits claim if you meet the right criteria. It isnt always the best claim for all situations, but it becomes the right claim if:
- Your claim was pending at the time of death, but all of the documentation was in the hands of the VA. This is possible because it takes a long time to get a claim resolved. If the VA hasnt made a decision yet and the veteran dies before the decision is made, an accrued claim might be the right option.
- The beneficiary of the claim died before the check was awarded. This sounds rare, but it happens more than youd think. If a husband veteran died and the wife dies before the check for his claim is sent, the dependent children or even the dependent parents would work on the claim.
- If there are no next of kin or beneficiaries and a person dies before the benefits were paid, it can even go to whoever was the last person that paid for the veterans medical care. That person would then be regarded as the responsible guardian and beneficiary of the veteran.
Legal Assistance After A Military Veteran Or Retiree Death
Surviving spouses and family members of military personnel have access to free legal assistance at most military bases. The legal office can answer questions, offer advice and help you with forms or other documents like wills and powers of attorney.
While the legal office is there to assist you, they can not represent you in a courtroom. For legal assistance near you, contact your local JAG office.
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Contact The Casualty Assistance Office
The casualty assistance office is in charge of taking requests as well as scheduling military funeral honors for the veteran who died. Funeral honors details will perform military rites for veterans, retirees and current service members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard.
to find your local casualty assistance office.
The Casualty Assistance Office will require a copy of the completed DD Form 214.
In addition to funeral honors, the casualty assistance office may be able to help the family cope with the loss of their veteran, understand their entitlements and apply for various benefits.
Most often, funeral directors request a local veteran organization to provide funeral honors, but if specific arrangements are requested, talk to your Casualty Assistance Office about these requests.
The Casualty Assistance Office will need the following information in order to assist you:
- Full name, rank and social security number of the deceased service member
- Branch of service and component
- Date and place of death
- Circumstances of death
- Name, address and phone number of the funeral home that is handling the details
- Location, date and time of the memorial service at which the military honors are needed dont stress if you dont have this information yet, youll still want to call to give them the information mentioned above and call back with these details once you know.
Burial Benefits Death Benefits And Memorial Items For Veterans
If youre a veteran and your discharge was not dishonorable, you are probably eligible for burial in a national veterans cemetery.
If youre buried in a private cemetery, your family may be entitled to a veterans burial allowance.
You can receive military funeral honors and memorial items whether youre interred in a veterans cemetery or a private one.
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