Please Clarify If Dic Is For 100% Vets Or Only For 100% P&t Vets?

[tssnave]

1. If a vet had a 100% rating for 10 years before death but had NOT been granted Permanent and Total status would his dependents still be eligible for DIC? In other words, is being granted P&T required for a DIC claim or is 100% rating for 10 years enough to allow your spouse to apply for DIC? In a perfect world if you were rated 100% for 10 years you would have a P&T rating but given the amount of time it takes to get our claims processed I can see where a vet, especially in a retro claim, could have a 100% rating but not P&T.

2. If you are 100% due to IU are your dependents still entitled to DIC?

Please provide any links you have to the regulation or VBM for the answers. I am only asking these specific questions about DIC, not any other general information about it like dying before 10 years of your sc disability. I'm just interested in understanding the 10 year 100% DIC rule and whether or not you had to have been grated P&T. I'm also curious if 100% IU counts the same as 100% schedular.

The VA DIC info sheet doesn't state anything about P&T but the 10/31/06 VAwatchdog.org News Flash seems to state that a veteran had to be granted P&T or his dependents would be denied benefits (go to the bottom of the article and count up six paragraphs to see what I'm talking about):

http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashe...0-31-2006-1.htm

Thanks,

TS Snave

[tssnave]

Does the 10-year DIC entitlement rule for spouses require that the veteran was 100% disabled for 10 years prior to his death or does it require that he be 100% permanent and total disabled prior to his death?

Please post a link to the regulation you are refrencing.

Thanks,

TS Snave

[jbasser]

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) www.va.gov (survivor benefits under benefits section)

What Is DIC?

DIC is a monthly benefit paid to eligible survivors of a

• military service member who died while on active duty, OR

• veteran whose death resulted from a service-related injury or disease, OR

• veteran whose death resulted from a non service-related injury or disease, and who was receiving, or was entitled to receive, VA Compensation for service-connected disability that was rated as totally disabling- for at least 10 years immediately before death, OR

- since the veteran’s release from active duty and for at least five years immediately preceding death, OR

- for at least one year before death if the veteran was a former prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999.

Edited August 7, 2008 by jbasser

[john999]

You can be total due to IU or schedular for ten years to get DIC and you don't have to be p&t. If your wife is married to you for eight of those years she/he gets a little more money. This is an incentive for all of us to live long and stay married just for spite.

[free_spirit_etc]

Hi! I've been taking a break from the Bureaucrats --but had to pop in a see if Betty was behaving!

This is my personal opinion - and I would certainly check it all out before I would say for sure ---but......

I would say if the vet is 100% SC for 10 years - DIC

The 100% IU is another route to get it.

But for some reason the VA seems to hold a vet with 100% SC disability (who CAN work) in a "higher status" than a vet who is 100% by reason of being unemployable due to their SC condition.

Just my opinion - but seems that way to me.

The regs also say "was recieving OR ENTITLED to recieve..." - so if you fall short of the 10 years the widow can go back and try to show that you were "entitled" to recieve 100% prior to the time you were recieving it.

If you really want to protect your spouse - try to make sure you blantantly die from something that is obviously SC -- it makes it much easier - and has no time frame. ;)

Free

[free_spirit_etc]

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/us...18----000-.html

TITLE 38 > PART II > CHAPTER 13 > SUBCHAPTER II > § 1318. Benefits for survivors of certain veterans rated totally disabled at time of death

(a) The Secretary shall pay benefits under this chapter to the surviving spouse and to the children of a deceased veteran described in subsection (;) of this section in the same manner as if the veteran’s death were service connected.

(:( A deceased veteran referred to in subsection (a) of this section is a veteran who dies, not as the result of the veteran’s own willful misconduct, and who was in receipt of or entitled to receive (or but for the receipt of retired or retirement pay was entitled to receive) compensation at the time of death for a service-connected disability rated totally disabling if—

(1) the disability was continuously rated totally disabling for a period of 10 or more years immediately preceding death;

(2) the disability was continuously rated totally disabling for a period of not less than five years from the date of such veteran’s discharge or other release from active duty; or

(3) the veteran was a former prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999, and the disability was continuously rated totally disabling for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding death.

© Benefits may not be paid under this chapter by reason of this section to a surviving spouse of a veteran unless—

(1) the surviving spouse was married to the veteran for one year or more immediately preceding the veteran’s death; or

(2) a child was born of the marriage or was born to them before the marriage.

(d) If a surviving spouse or a child receives any money or property of value pursuant to an award in a judicial proceeding based upon, or a settlement or compromise of, any cause of action for damages for the death of a veteran described in subsection (a) of this section, benefits under this chapter payable to such surviving spouse or child by virtue of this section shall not be paid for any month following a month in which any such money or property is received until such time as the total amount of such benefits that would otherwise have been payable equals the total of the amount of the money received and the fair market value of the property received.

(e) For purposes of sections 1448 (d) and 1450 © of title 10, eligibility for benefits under this chapter by virtue of this section shall be deemed eligibility for dependency and indemnity compensation under section 1311 (a) of this title.

[free_spirit_etc]

It looks like the 100% SC is the driver, and 100% by reason of Unemployability is an equivalent route

http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/admin21/m21_1/...3/ch03_secd.doc

M21-MR, Part IV, subpart iii, Chapter 3, Section D

18. General Information on DIC Payable in NSC Death Cases

Introduction

This topic contains general information on Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) payable in nonservice-connected (NSC) death cases. It includes information on

considering entitlement to DIC under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 1318

identifying qualifying disabilities under 38 U.S.C. 1151 and 38 U.S.C.1160

determining when DIC is not payable under 38 U.S.C. 1318, and

establishing a surviving spouse’s entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C. 1318.

Change Date November 16, 2006

a. Considering Entitlement to DIC Under the Provisions of 38 U.S.C. 1318

Pay Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 1318 to a surviving spouse or children in the same manner as if the death were service-connected (SC), if a veteran was in receipt of, or entitled to receive, compensation for a totally disabling SC disability

for ten or more years immediately preceding death

continuously for a period of not less than five years from the date of separation from service until death, or

for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding death for a former prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999.

Important: A total rating based on individual unemployability (IU) meets the total disability requirement under 38 CFR 3.22.

b. Reference: This benefit is payable under the authority of 38 U.S.C. 1318.