carterdap

I fully understand. My wife can barely use her phone, bless her heart. Thankfully, my daughter is very savvy, pragmatic and cerebral. I am keeping her up to date.
Just to be clear, I have no pending crisis. I just want my family prepared. They hate it when I have these discussions, but I've seen to much pain, on here and elsewhere. 
Thanks agian Berta. You are an angel.

It isnt you--- we are ALL smart....the VA however con volutes everything with mumbo jumbo,hoping we do not take the time to carefully read their regulations.
Every time I copy the VA web site link above, it ticks me off because they forgot to put DIC regulations under Section 1151, 38 USC.(death by VA) so if a survivor might possibly have this type of claim ( and there are plenty of 1151 death claims at the BVA) if the survivor doesn't have a clue on 1151  they will not be able to potential acquire DIC on this basis.
I have done 2 Death file radio shows here in our archives. As foreboding as that sounds, they have been very up beat shows.
Basically a death file is for a blank 21-534 for the spouse, VA decisions, copies of DD 214/ 215s, 
any VA life insurance policy, non VA Insurance policies, health Care Proxy,marriage license, death certs, and past divorce decrees from former marriages, etc etc etc 
the stuff a spouse will need when a veteran dies.
But the best thing of all is if the spouse is fairly up to speed on the veteran's disabilities, and gets up to speed on DIC and Substitution regs ( if a vet dies with a claim pending) and makes sure they get their paperwork in for accrued benefits and DIC within the first year after the veteran dies. Hopefully they will come here to hadit for help and/or get a vet rep who actually understands DIC.
The VA will state to a spouse exactly what evidence they need,even without a vet reps help.
But that too can become overwhelming for anyone grief stricken.
I started talking to a woman in the dealer's waiting room while getting my car inspected last year.
She said she had been a VA Volunteer, me too, and then she said her husband had died due to radiation
exposure in service .
I started to give her our hadit contact info,concerned that she deals with Buffalo RO  like I do ,(sometimes they cant read) but she said she had already won her DIC claim by carefully reading everything the VA sent to her, and by having her daughter help get the evidence she needed.She also understood the radiation regulations and was fully PC literate, which in my opinion, every spouse needs to be ,if they ever deal with the VA.
Our motto here is Knowledge is Power. So VERY TRUE!
 
 
 
 

This link here contains the DIC regulations and some other good info.
On a beautiful Fall day 22 years ago my husband started telling me to make sure I continued his claims if he died. He was worried about DIC. He had been recovering from a stroke and seemed to be doing better but DIC was the last thing on my mind. He was only 47 years old.Rated at 30% SC for PTSD at that time.
A few hours after that he collapsed in our barn and died as I gave him CPR.
I commend you both for being proactive now in your lifetimes, to consider what DIC means and what evidence the VA requires.
My initial DIC award was under Section 1151- death by VA (malpractice), one of the claims he had made that was under 1151,  that he wanted me to continue if he died.
The other claim he had was for a higher PTSD rating. He had SSDI solely for PTSD.About 3 years after he died VA awarded 100% P & T SC for PTSD.Twenty years after he died they properly rated the 1151 stroke at 100% P & T and also awarded him posthumous retro SMC.
I think the link above mentions the Death File radio  shows I did here. I hope I mentioned DNRs as well, and also Health Care Proxys.