When I Die Will Wife Get My 30% Compensation?

[les]

I allways wandered how that works. Any help thank you!

[broncovet]

Thanks, Berta. Generally, they treat widows with DIC just a little worse than Vets, making them fight for every nickel, just like Vets. The difference between Vets and Widows, is that there is quite a few people who know about jumping through the many hoops to get your benefits for the VET, but almost no one (except Berta) knows anything about DIC, to ensure that widows are "fed to the wolves".

The VA is striving to keep it that way. Vets can, if they have a computer and research skills, weave through the VA benefit maze, but widows are like a bunny in a den of wolves. The VA has shown they will lie, forge paperwork. (for an example of the VA faking Vets documents, look here: http://www.linehanpc.com/vadisabilityclaim/cushmanvshinseki.html )delay, or do anything to get out of paying benefits to widows or Vets. The VA knows that most widows wont be able to survive the hamster wheel they put em on to get their benefits, as it often takes 10 or 20 years.

While many may call me "negative" for calling the VA on this, I do think it is important for the Veteran to know that you simply can not beleive everything the VA tells you. I think if the VA "fakes" Vets documents ONCE, it probably will/does happen again, especially considering there is no evidence that the employees who faked this Vets evidence were ever prosecuted.

If this was the "real world", anyone caught tampering with evidence would do time in the slammer, but VA employees do so with immunity. They shred evidence to make their job easier, or just plain fake it. What angers me is if the Veteran was caught "faking" his documents, he would be nailed to the wall, but not a whisper about the VA employees who did so.

[john999]

When I was a child in the 50's and 60's my mother got some kind of cash benefit from the VA for us kids after my father died. He was a disabled WWII vet, but not 100%, nor did he die from an SC condition. What happened with that benefit? We were poor so maybe that had something to do with it, but we were not on welfare and my mother did not get a war widow pension. She got my father's SSA.

To the question if you are 30% and you don't die from the SC condition your spouse gets nothing at this time. Oh, sorry, she might get an American flag.

[Berta]

It sure doesn't hurt to try to get the spouse up to speed on the internet.Things are far easier then when I got my first PC in 1988.All they really need is a bookmark for hadit and the VA web site as the DIC regs are in both places.

As long as they,in the event of your death, get a VCAA letter that conforms to Hupp V Nicholson, they will have an exact statement of everything they need to succeed.

But if a spouse got a decision like the one I got 3 weeks ago,they might just believe the VA and walk away.

If they had a vet rep, the rep might have said well that's that and then see them out the door.

I told VA to CUE themselves on it and they did and said it is now considered a new AO IHD claim and awaits an expeditious medical opinion for the rating.

As Broncovet said "I do think it is important for the Veteran to know that you simply can not beleive everything the VA tells you." Or tells a widow.

That is a prime facie fact.

[Quint7]

An example from my mom's experience.

Step-dad suffered from what VA could only call 'rheumatism, traveling, unexplained'. He also had Adult Onset Diabetes. The VA recognized the diabetes as service connected due to Agent Orange. he also was 70% for PTSD. He ended up TDIU 100% dues to the PTSD. He died when the mystery rheumatism got into his lungs and there was absolutely nothing docs could do. He died after a week or so. My mom had been told by him that his entire VA comp would just keep coming to her. He knew this because...... the guys at Group Therapy told him that. never checked it out, never asked how they knew. Wrong answer. She applied for DIC and was denied because he didn't die from PTSD or Diabetes. No service connection related death, not 100% for 10 years (think it was 6, 6 1/2), no DIC. My mom was crushed. I first joined HadIt to research her situation. What we found out was that if the Dr who signed the death certificate amended it to include that his diabetes made controlling the rheumatoid impossible because his diabetes was so severe (which it did, we just never thought about it that way until forced to) the VA should then consider his death as related to his service connected diabetes.

Talked to his VA Dr who completely agreed to change the death certificate (not an uncommon thing I guess) to read "cause of death, rheumatoid fluid in lungs, un-treatable due to severe diabetes" and VA approved DIC back to date of death with no questions asked.

Life insurance....... very good advice.