Now Dependent wives takes 2 yrs to add to benefits

[rdeming]

I filed for my wife to be added to my benefits 28Oct2014, we were married 18Oct2014.  The ebenefits website indicates it might take until August 2017 to approve the request to add my wife.  I was told this is normal by the DAV.  I asked the DAV for help but they would only confirm that the claim was "pending" in the system.

This isn't the first time the VA has had to add a wife for me.  The first time only took 10 mins. 

Today I was told by the VA Rep that everything was in order and it has been taking longer to add dependent wives since Congress told the VA 4 years ago that they needed to improve the process and make it faster.  Well I guess they have.  Now it takes 2 years  to do what it used to take 10 mins.  So apparently the VA is lying again.

The VA asked for my divorce papers and her divorce papers.  They have had the papers for over a year. 

If the VA is deferring the dependency claims it would certainly make the initial claims look great.  But what about all veterans.  All claims are important to us.  Especially when it concerns money to support the pack.

Anybody else with this problem?

 

 

[Buck52]

That DAV is full of it..

If your P&T you should have recieve a package at the time of your award  letting you know about chapter 35  benefits for you and  your spouse....you do need to send in applications for champ-VA and other apps as well theres a lot of other benefits if your 100%P&T

IT SHOULD ONLY TAKE A MONTH OR TWO FOR YOUR WIFE TO RECEIVE HER BENEFITS.

sometimes not that long.

...jmo

....................Buck

[broncovet]

Yes.  Im having the same problem, fighting over dependents effective dates.  I put all my dependendents on application in 2002, the VA assumes all Veterans are going to get a divorce and abandon their children due to all Veterans alcohol and drug abuse, according to them.  

[bobbyq]

Ok I am currently working on this one.  Veteran is 100% PT and has a dependent spouse and she is CONSIDERED  a dependent.  She has the ID card, etc.  They were cohabitating together over two years and then they screwed up.  They got married by clergy and sent the info to the VA.  In the meantime the vet died and they had only been legally married for six months or so, the VA denied her DIC AND her dependency.  I have case law from BVA that recognizes her as a dependent but the VA will not accept it.  I have Citation VAOPGCPREC 58-91 meaning of legal impediment for purposes of deemed valid marriage under 38 USC 103(a) common law marriage FROM THE VA THEMSELVES and they will not accept that either.  I am at wits end. I do have a Congressional inquiry into it but that is going out the window.  If the VA Citation above claims her a dependent and the BVA has a decision exactly like hers that rules in her favor, why does the VA not recognize it?  And they wonder why people kill people.  #$%%R!#$

[Sgt. Wilky]

36 minutes ago, broncovet said:

Yes.  Im having the same problem, fighting over dependents effective dates.  I put all my dependendents on application in 2002, the VA assumes all Veterans are going to get a divorce and abandon their children due to all Veterans alcohol and drug abuse, according to them.  

This was exactly my situation. In my initial claim in 2008, I put down all dependents including my wife. When I was granted at 30% in 2012, they decided I no longer had kids and my wife left me. When to the VSO and re-submitted that paperwork and was told to wait. A year later, I got fed up with the stupidity and went to Ebenefits and did it myself and two months later had the back pay and the updated beneficiary information in my file.

Again, the VA does this with the belief that 20%-30% of the veterans won't notice or won't care. It's ridiculous, but that's the game we're forced to play.

Semper Fi,

Sgt. Wilky

[Vync]

I wanted to add one thing regarding divorce papers. If you or your wife has ever been married/divorced more than once, then the VA will need copies of every one of those events - not just the last one.

[broncovet]

I really have a hard time understanding how VA justifies their position that "all Veterans are alcoholic, drug addicted losers seeking to con the VA out of undeserved benefits, by abusing hardworking VA employees.  All Vets also divorce their wives and abandon their children due to their drug and alcohohol abuse, and should be treated as such."