Information for Widows of Veterans

[broncovet]

Widows and survivors, such as children, or even parents of deceased disabled Vets:

There are about 3 things you must know, and must do.  

1.  Apply for Substitution of claimant within a year of Veterans death.  For forms and info, go here:

https://www.benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/factsheets/general/accrued.pdf. This allows the widow or family members to get benefits which were due to the Veteran, after his death.  

2.  Apply for DIC (sooner is better than later).  For more info, and forms to fill out, go here.

https://www.va.gov/disability/dependency-indemnity-compensation/

3.  Consider getting a VSO (Veterans Service Officer)  or NOVA attorney to help you if you find all the above confusing.   If your VSO or NOVA attorney asks you "what is DIC"..go elsewhere, as not all are familiar with accrued benefits or DIC.  

     You can often find a Veterans service officer (DAV, VFW, etc) at your local VA medical center.  

      If you need an experienced Veterans law attorney, go here: https://www.vetadvocates.org/cpages/sustaining-members-directory 

      Your attorney "need not" be in your state, there are many firms who represent Vets in all 50 states.  To practice at CAVC (Court of Veterans claims), you need not have a law license in all 50 states, because there is just one CAVC in Washington DC which does claims for Veterans everywhere, even overseas.  

       You can also ask questions on hadit.  Do this for your family.  This is just a quick summary, be sure to seek professional advice.  

      

Edited August 19, 2022 by broncovet

[asdf]

You can find all accredited VSOs, attorneys, and claims agents at this link and you can search by city and zip code.

https://www.va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation/index.asp

[Ali]

There are many benefits provided By the department of veterans affairs to the surviving spouse of the veteran including death benefits, health-care benefits, education, and financial assistance, etc. i have just find the website where you can get further information about this topic on on https://aveteransbenefits.com/veterans-benefits-for-widows/

 

[GBArmy]

Hi Ali, welcome to Hadit,. Yes there is a lot of info out there. VA,gov is direct from the horse's mouth and about as accurate as you can find. Several law groups also put out very informative info, such as CC&K and Hill and Ponton to name a few. Usually, they are pretty accurate as well. But we need to remember that it costs money to provide this "free" service and would be wise to always keep that in the back of our minds. Often, there is the financial reason to get you to contact the site for more info. But it can provide us an  initial exposure to benefits on "how to" info, and we should go to the regulations like 38cfr's, VA public dbq's, VA forms, etc. to lean more. But you are right on; an informed consumer is a smart consumer as the saying goes.