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The Reps Benefit For

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Berta

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REPS Restored Entitlement Program for survivors of certain veterans.

In 1980 Ronald Reagan signed the Omnibus Reconciliation Act.

Briefly -this act prevented widows or widowers of any veteran who died due to service or service connection contributing to death-from continuing to receive

2 full years of the SSA benefit that the SSA had traditionally paid to the surviving caretaker parent due to a veteran's death up to the child's age of 18.

The Original benefit paid a spouse an SSA benefit as long as the child was in school up to age 18.

The Omnibus Act did away with that.

The cut off was then put at age 16.

The REPS program is what the REPS application with every DIC application is all about.

If a widow or widower is eligible and lost those 2 years of SSA benefits as caretaker of a child, stepchild or adopted child of the deceased veterans- and the veteran's death is found- at any point in time to have been caused or contributed to by their service, the REPS program-upon receipt of the award letter from VA for direct DIC death benefits- calculates the 2 years owed the spouse and sends this money to him or her.

The criteria is that a veteran must have died directly in the line of duty before August 13, 1981 (this might surely have changed by now due to the PGW and Iraq War)or that they died directly due to a service incurred disability-incurred orior to 1981.

NVLSP makes the point that it does not matter when the VA awarded the SC -as long as the death was due to SC contributing.

This factor means that many Nehmer AO vets survivors are eligible for REPS.

It is not awarded under the ten year DIC rule however.

38 CFR 3.6,3.7, 38 CFR 3.812,CA Gen Counsel Pres Op # 8-92 and 7-98.

Edited by Berta

GRADUATE ! Nov 2nd 2007 American Military University !

When thousands of Americans faced annihilation in the 1800s Chief

Osceola's response to his people, the Seminoles, was

simply "They(the US Army)have guns, but so do we."

Sameo to us -They (VA) have 38 CFR ,38 USC, and M21-1- but so do we.

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