Lisa M O'Brien

[Lisa M O'Brien]

Dear Sirs or Madame,

     My husband passed away last October, he was veteran of the Navy. His name was Michael B. . He was receiving a pension from the Va of 90%. Since he has passed I have been waiting to hear from someone regarding if I will be receiving widow benefits or benefits of some kind. Everyone I have spoken to has expressed that I should be receiving some kind of monthly compensation . After Michael passed, about a week later I had Michael Hartt from the American legion in Manchester fill out every Va form there is, he faxed it over to whom it needed to go to. I lost about 3/4 of income when Michael passed so I was relying on something from the Va. pension board to help me survive. 

     Michael Hartt also resent  a claim that had been started 6/24/18..I have heard nothing about this claim.

Will someone please respond back to me on these subjects. I realize that Co-vid has set things back but all my claims were put in before this situation came about.

 

Thank for your time and effort,

sincerely,

Lisa M O'Brien

Edited May 29, 2020 by Amanda
Removed last name and DOB to keep your person info concealed.

[GBArmy]

Hi Lisa; We are very sorry for your loss. Our condolences.

Michael Hartt from the AL is a VSO. He probably submitted an application for DIC, Disability Imdemnity Compensation for you. Your husband probably didn't receive a pension, but a disability compensation for injury or illness directly related to his Navy service. You do not receive the same amount; you are not the veteran, but a survivor. So, instead of receiving his disability comp, you may be eligible for the DIC.If he had "90%" comp, he probably was receiving a monthly payment of about $2017.96. ( If not, get back to us. A pension is less.) IF, this is important, your husband passed away due to his service-connected condition, you may be eligible for DIC. The rate for 2019 was a little more than $1300 a month. One of the requirements would be his death certificate would say cause of death that relates to a condition or secondary condition related to his disability. For example, a veteran had a heart attack and he had a heart related service connected disability. You would have had to submit thru Michael, a copy of your husbands death cert and a copy of your marriage cert. If Michael has the authorization, he can see in the VA system where your application is by using the VBMS system. If he isn't authorized, he can call and get an update as to what the status is. As to re-sending in a claim submitted back in 2018, that can get very complicated, We would have to see a lot more info on that from you to advise. The first thing you should do on that would be to ask Michael:  1) what was the claim for, and 2 )is it still open or had it been closed? Work on the DIC issue now; you need that yesterday. Come back if you have questions, Lisa.

[pacmanx1]

I agree with GBArmy,  Sorry for your loss.  The only thing that I could add is, if you have not contacted the SSA office about SSA benefits you should contact them also. SSA benefits are different and separate than VA benefits.

[Berta]

Call 1-800 827 1000 to get a status of both claims that were filed.

Or you could file an IRIS inquiry ..or do both.

The first thing you need to do is to find out if the VA actually received those claims.

Have you also filed for substitution of the claimant, as to the claim he had filed?

Others will explain "substitution".

We have limited info here from you and others here will need to know more-

Please read also the AO forum info as to Blue Water Navy veterans and Agent Orange- under HR 299 and the other links as -if he applied prior to the new Blue Water Navy regulations, that needs to be clarified, and if he in fact was a Blue Water Navy veteran.

Others can explain that here- they will find (and you) what you need in the AO forum.

Whether or not he was  a Blue Water Navy veteran, GBArmy gave good advice.

Also the former 21-526 DIC claim form has changed. What forms did the VSO send to them?

Can you tell us where he served and when, what the death certificate stated as to

Primary cause of death and any secondary cause,contributing to death?

Was an autopsy done, and if so do you have a copy of it?

What disabilities was the 90% Service connection for ?

 

 

 

 

 

[broncovet]

While I agree, there is still something important you need to do:

File a "Substitution of claimant".  

This means YOU can/should get benefits from you late husband.  You can continue the appeal, "but only if" you file a substitution of claimant and contine that appeal.  

This is important for 2 reasons:

1.  You could get retroactive pay back to the effective date of the first time he filed, which can be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for you. 

2.  If, during your appeal, you get 100 percent for your late husband, 10 years back, it should guarntee you get DIC.  The regs state that his death has to be related to service connected conditions,  Unless he was 100 percent for 10 years or more, and then it does not matter the reason he passed.  Its possible, or even likely, if you continue the appeals (after filing substitution of claimant) he MAY get an effective date of 10 years prior to his death (of 100 percent), and this makes getting DIC easy.  

DO NOT FAIL to file a substitution of claimant promptly.  YOU could lose out on benefits and it could cost you a lot.    An attorney can help, or we can help.  If you get an attorney for VA benefits, get one from this list:

https://www.vetadvocates.org/directory/widget_search?current_page=1&sort_type=featured&filter={"additional_info.show-profile-on-sustaining-membership-directory"%3A+"yes"}&asset_type=company_user&display_type=default

I noticed Berta posted WHILE I was posting, and its good.  She also mentioned substitution of claimant.  

Edited May 29, 2020 by broncovet

[Berta]

Thanks Broncovet- we were on line here at the same time-

Broncovet is Right!!!!

If you are eligible for accrued benefits-,the only way to get them is with the substitution form.- if the claim for accrued is successful and if it was filed within one year after his death ( unless it falls under Nehmer- others will explain that- I have considerable info in the AO forum as to Nehmer.

https://www.va.gov/

Go to where they say to get a status of your claim or appeal. Ask for an email reply-so that you have hard copy of what the status is.

Do you have copies of what the VSO filed?

Others will help.

[Berta]

PacmanX is also correct- you will need to apply for widows death benefits-from SSA, if you meet the age requirement-

The main SSA site is online and they will have info you need- and possibly have the app on line as well.

 

You will need death cert, marriage license, Birth certificates  of any minor children, and possibly more documents,if you are eligible for the SSA spousal death benefits.