Jump to content
VA Disability Community via Hadit.com

VA Disability Claims Articles

Ask Your VA Claims Question | Current Forum Posts Search | Rules | View All Forums
VA Disability Articles | Chats and Other Events | Donate | Blogs | New Users

  • hohomepage-banner-2024-2.png

  • 27-year-anniversary-leaderboard.png

    advice-disclaimer.jpg

  • donate-be-a-hero.png

  • 0

never to early for family readiness


jfrei

Question

So anyone get the feeling when you go your family is going to suffer from the VAs corrupt system? I had a severe TBI and to this day fight t get what my family deserves and my wife isn't well versed with VA law has no idea if I die what she is owed but I still I don't know. I have been P and T only for going on 3 years have the 10k life insurance policy not sure how to get more and I'm currently seeking aid and attendance not just SMC S, Is there anything left I should be looking into for my family who has DEA benefits and ChampVA. I just want to make sure they are good to go when I go which could be awhile but id rather get my ducks in a row for them. So they know who they need to ask when the time comes....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Answers 7
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters For This Question

Popular Days

Top Posters For This Question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

They need to come here , jfrie, because we have more detailed DIC info than the VA Main web site has.

This is the VA's current overview of DIC-

https://benefits.va.gov/compensation/types-dependency_and_indemnity.asp

They (VA) skillfully  leave out 1151 DIC, in that link,  but have more searchable info on it somewhere at the site ( I think).

But everything a survivor needs to know is here.,,incuding 1151 and FTCA death.

We also have done End of Life Radio shows here on DIC , available in our archives.

One of the most important things the wife needs to have is your hadit password-or she can join us under a new password,when the time comes.

I was active on at Vet Link,Prodigy Vets BS, (with my husband in the late 1980s )and then I was with Stars and Stripes and Military.com on line-and came here to hadit in 1997( we had a past hadit board) and 

I can assure you that -if I had depended on the vet reps I had, when he died, I would have never succeeded in any of my claims.

Vet reps do not get a lot of DIC claims, but still it is inexcusable when they don't know how to handle them.

I had the same training from NVLSP as most vet reps have, that includes DIC and accrued benefits, And certainly I have provided information and help to any widow who joins us.

But some of that help goes nowhere because we ask them the same questions any good vet rep or lawyer would and more often than not many widows ignore those questions-probaby because they really dont know what their spouse's SC (s) were for, and they  often dont reveal exactly what the death certificate says.

 

Spouses can come here anytime with their living veteran, to get an idea of how to use the site, and peruse the DIC forum.

 

I am not saying they wont get help from a vet rep --- some DIC claims are easy-

(1)the veteran's SC is stated on the death cert as causing or contributing substantially to death-

(2)or they have received SC T & P continuously for ten years. But many other DIC claims are more invoved than that.And often the survivor has to substitute themselves as the claimant if any claim was pending when the veteran died...a claim that coud have direct bearing on whether they get DIC or not.

If a spouse is not computer savvy, and their DIC does not fall under one of the first two conditions above,

and they are unable to access us here, in my opinion, their chances of getting DIC or accrued ,are probably doomed.

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

@jfrei you are smart asking these questions, for it is never too early to start planning after all we want our spouses to get everything they are entitled too upon our passing. It is never too early to make sure your spouse knows what to do when the vet dies. My spouse is younger and I tell her all the time the things she needs to know when I pass (the odds are I will go before her). The main problem I have is my wife hates to discuss the topic, I tell her it is a fact of life and we need to discuss it.

I have told her about this site and I will take Ms. Berta advice above and have her start reading about DIC on this site. I need to make sure she becomes more well versed when it comes to the VA. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Thanks Paul- my husband actually knew more about DIC than I did-he was young and I never dreamed he would die in his 40s. He had read a lot in the first VBMs published, by NVLSP in 1991 and 1992.

He also studied the 1151 info there and dictated to me his 1151 claim.He could no longer use a PC due to his  stroke- his 1151 claim was awarded  in 2012----18 years after he died.

He aso had a claim pending for higher rating of his 30% SC PTSD. The VA awarded 100% P & T for PTSD after he died.

His greatest fear the AM of his very unexpected death was that the VA would screw around with me over those claims if he died.

That is why the substitution procedure is so important when a veteran claimant dies.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Ms. Berta you are correct and as vets it is up to us to ensure our spouses are prepared to deal with the VA upon our death. I know I need to do a better job to make sure my wife knows what she will need to do. I know  having access to the Hadit forum will also help her when dealing with the VA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
  • Moderator

I wonder how many Vets "miss out" on benefits because they or their famalies are unaware they exist.  Case in point:  Homeless Vets.  This is not supposed to happen.   Of course, the uneducated/and or those without internet are the most vulnerable.  To protect your family, you should have "the talk" with them.  Tell them what they are eligible for, AND designate someone in advance that they should consult with.  

My wife has my hadit password, and I have told her to post and "take Berta's advice".  While I dont agree with Berta on everything, she has helped me and I cant think of a single incident where taking Berta's advice would not work out well for her.  The alternate is Alex Graham.   While Alex is not an expert on DIC, he WOULD direct her to someone who was current on it.  

We are so blessed at hadit to have at least "2" national experts on VA benefits: Alex and Berta.  Either of these could testify before congress as an expert, and Berta indicated she has, I think.  

We have had some real good people in the past also, and we have a couple attorneys who sometimes post, but they have not done so real recently.  Chris Attig, Hill and Ponton, and CCK Law are also credible sources of information.  There are others.  Its important to know "who to ask".   

Every president has a team of advisors..to advise him on a variety of topics.  Treat your family like "the first family", and you will do well.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
  • HadIt.com Elder

I had a good experience helping a homeless veteran once. he was standing on a busy street intersection  all mangle up wild beard dirty torn up dirty clothes on ugly torn up coat  holding a sign up that said

Homeless War Veterans needs help  with food and a place to get out of the cold weather''

...I stopped ask him to get in  I took him to the VAMC..he could not produce a drivers license and his DD 214 .

All he kept saying was he was a Homeless War Veteran..we ask him what war he was in?  he couldn't remember.

..since we could not get any VA or Military proof  I had no choice to just take him back to the place I found him but  I found a Homeless shelter I left him there.

 After he got some food and a warm bed to sleep  24 hrs later he left there and went back to the street intersection I found him at, the people would give him money .ect,,ect,,..the News Media did a watch on him they did a surveillance on him and what he was doing was he would get thousands of dollars and take a bus to the casinos....come to find out he was not a Homeless Veteran or a Veteran at all, he had a nice home and live comfortable alone...This has caused me to maintain caution as to who I try to help or if they are in-fact a homeless Vet.?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Guidelines and Terms of Use