Surviving Spouse Benefits
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)
What is it?
VA may provide a monthly benefit to the surviving spouses and parent(s) upon a veteran’s death.
Who qualifies?
For a survivor to be eligible for DIC, the veteran’s death must have resulted from one of the following causes:
- A disease or injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty while on active duty or active duty for training.
- An injury, heart attack, cardiac arrest, or stroke incurred or aggravated in the line of duty while on inactive duty for training.
- A service-connected disability or a condition directly related to a service-connected disability.
DIC also may be paid to certain survivors of veterans who were totally disabled from service-connected conditions at the time of death, even though their service-connected disabilities did not cause their deaths. The survivor qualifies if the veteran was:
- Continuously rated totally disabled for a period of 10 years immediately preceding death; or
- Continuously rated totally disabled from the date of military discharge and for at least 5 years immediately preceding death; or
- A former POW who died after Sept. 30, 1999, and who was continuously rated totally disabled for a period of at least one year immediately preceding death.
These eligibility requirements are general and there may be additional factors that affect eligibility. Each case is unique and there are exceptions for every rule. Your Texas Veterans Commission counselor is an expert who can review your specific situation and help determine your eligibility.
How to get it?
Start today - your payment starts to accrue the day you file, no matter how long it takes to get the claim settled. Meet with your local Texas Veterans Commission representative or Veterans County Service Officer who will guide you through the process and identify any paperwork required. Completing forms completely and correctly will affect the outcome of your request. Our expert counselors will assist you in completing the forms to get the best results possible. Find the office closest to you.
Death Pension
What is it?
VA provides pensions to low-income surviving spouses and unmarried children of deceased veterans with wartime service (combat experience is not required.) The death pension provides a monthly payment to bring an eligible person’s income to a level established by law.
Who qualifies?
- To be eligible, spouses must not have remarried and children must be under age 18, or under age 23 if attending a VA-approved school, or have become permanently incapable of self-support because of disability before age 18.
- The veteran must have been discharged under conditions other than dishonorable and must have had 90 days or more of active military service, at least one day of which was during a period of war, or a service-connected disability justifying discharge.
- If the veteran died in service but not in the line of duty, the death pension may be payable if the veteran completed at least two years of honorable service.
- A surviving spouse may be entitled to a higher income limit if living in a nursing home, in need of the aid and attendance of another person, or permanently housebound.
These eligibility requirements are general and there may be additional factors that affect eligibility. Each case is unique and there are exceptions for every rule. Your Texas Veterans Commission counselor is an expert who can review your specific situation and help determine your eligibility.
How to get it?
Start today - your payment starts to accrue the day you file, no matter how long it takes to get the claim settled. Meet with your local Texas Veterans Commission representative or Veterans County Service Officer who will guide you through the process and identify any paperwork required. Completing forms completely and correctly will affect the outcome of your request. Our expert counselors will assist you in completing the forms to get the best results possible. Find the office closest to you.