100% Disabled Veteran Widow's Benefits Question

[midnight340]

Greetings All,

I have been absent for some time from this site, but have been so grateful for all the assistance helping me get my disability.

My question now has to do with my mother's benefits. She passed away about 10 days ago. My father had been on 100% as a WWII vet, and he died a little over two years ago.

I just found out from my brother that the VA quit paying my mother any benefits at all upon my father's death. So this would have been about 26 months of benefits.

Is there anything I can do about this now that she is gone? We have medical and care bills and if there is any chance to getting the benefits that she should have been paid, it would help my siblings and me a lot.

I am hoping someone can give me some guidance here. Thanks. -Midnight

(edit) I want to add that my father had been receiving 100% disability from the VA for well over 10 years.

Edited February 17, 2014 by midnight340

[john999]

You are your parent's child as long as you and they are alive. You may be over 21, but you are still the child of your parents. I don't know how the VA defines "child" for their purpose.

Berta

My Aunt was in her late 40's or early 50's when she remarried. She was a widow for almost 20 years and got DIC. It was a tiny amount then. When her second husband died I think she started to get DIC again. I don't think I actually got it for her. She had it when she went into the nursing home. I took over her finances after that and paid her bills etc. She had three pensions and plenty of money. Her pensions plus DIC and SSA paid for her nursing home without ever dipping into her estate. Her estate had to be probated and IRS had to be involved. I worked on that estate for years with a lawyer. I did all the work and he got 3%. I learned a lot about accounting for every dime.

John

[Berta]

John, the VA's definition of 'child' for VA claims purposes is within the BVA decision I posted and within:

 38 U.S.C.A. § 101(4); 38 C.F.R. § 3.57(a).

If a formal 21-534 form had not been filed by the deceased widow,I don't see how the VA could award DIC.

But I agree that if there is any proof that the lawyer asked VA for benefit info, that could possibly change this situation.

However, I dont know if any of you recall Emily's DIC claim here at hadit many years ago,

The veteran had no SC and was a paramedic but refused to get medical care for himself. ?

He dropped dead of a heart attack. I think he must have been autopsied as well.

She proved (after a long battle and 2 IMOs from the same doctor) that her husband had gotten VD in service (while they were married I think ???)and the VD caused the heart disease and his death.

BVA awarded her DIC.

My point here. Emily was a very aggressive person. She went to at least 2 BVA hearings and brought her whole family with er.She was also determined to get an accrued award.

There was no legal basis for any accrued award, because the DIC application had not been filed within one year of his death and because he did not have a claim pending when he died.

Then she tried to get additional retro DIC ,by saying someone from the AL had filed a 21-534 app for her, within the first year after his death.

In those days the VA would acknowledge any application for benefits right away.I determined,through our conversations and emails she had gone to a AL picnic where some guy from the AL post supposedly had a 534 on him and filled it out for her and mailed it to the VA.

From the time this happened ,to the time the VA had a formal receipt of her DIC app, a few years had passed.

When I asked her why she didnt follow up at all on the AL application,in all that time, she became aggressive with me.

She didn't succeed with that claim.

If this lawyer had somehow actually obtained a DIC app (maybe VA sent it to him since he wrote to them) he had some obligation to forward the form to the widow.

That would even might be enough for VA to start a C file,for the widow possibly, and a request can be made to see if any C file exists ,for her and certainly there is one for the veteran ,

with some correspondence that might help here.

But still,per VA case law, who would receive the proceeds?

An estate is not the 'child' of a veteran,so in that respect, if a valid claim is awarded for DIC,then VA would possibly have to pay the estate of the veteran.

I worked for estates lawyers years ago. These situations can get detailed.

I also did 2 probates and had the probate court regulations to follow.

But still, one would have to have the signed 21-534 ,prepared in the survivors lifetime, and proven it had been sent to the VA, to even consider the DIC potential. in my opinion.

This is totally unlike say ,in event of my death, my daughter has to open an estate account to receive some proceeds

from a few things I get, that are covered in my will ,but still would need probate.... I think......

But I am seeing my lawyer next month to see how that should be handled.

I don't think I was getting those proceeds when he drew my will up.And a few other things have changed that would require

a codicil to the will.

Something for everyone to consider ....wills often don't reflect at death, everything that occurred after the will was prepared,

that the deceased might have intended to change but didn't, in their lifetime.

It only cost me about 100 bucks for a minimal but important change to my will a few years ago.

Also all lawyers these days prepare a Health Care Proxy too ,usually along with wills, and I had to give my PCP a copy of mine some time ago ,because I think maybe Medicare requires one in the medical file.

Dont know if the VA does.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Berta

[midnight340]

Berta and John, thank you for the continued discussion of this. In my case I am checking to see if there is any relevant paperwork that had been done. But even if I cannot do anything in regards to my mother's DIC, maybe this will prompt someone to look into this for their parents, or clarify what needs to be done for their own family's possible survivors benefits.

[Roxanna Childers]

How can I get help in filing my income taxes