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Departed vet’s spouse may qualify for benefit
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Veterans, in this column we will be discussing a benefit that may apply to a veteran’s spouse after the veteran has passed on. This benefit is called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. For a survivor to be eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, or DIC, the veteran’s death must have resulted from one of the following causes: a service-connected disability or a condition directly related to a service-connected disability; a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty while on active duty or active duty for training; or an injury, heart attack, cardiac arrest or stroke incurred or aggravated in the line of duty while on inactive duty for training. DIC also may be paid to certain survivors of veterans who were totally disabled from service-connected conditions at the time of death, even though their service-connected disabilities did not cause their deaths. The survivor qualifies if the veteran was continuously rated totally disabled for a period of 10 years immediately preceding death, or rated totally disabled from the date of military discharge and for at least five years immediately preceding death, or a former POW who was rated totally disabled for a period of at least one year immediately preceding death. Surviving spouses of veterans receive a basic rate, plus additional payments for dependent children, for the aid and attendance of another person if they are patients in a nursing home or require the regular assistance of another person, or if they are permanently housebound. The basic payment rate is $1,154 monthly. If you still have dependent children, you may receive $286 extra for each child. If you are housebound, you may receive an extra $135 monthly. If you require aid and attendance you may also receive an extra $286 monthly. The following is an example of what the above means. If a veteran is service-connected for Ischemic Heart Disease due to Agent Orange exposure and suffers a heart attack that is fatal, the spouse may then file for DIC compensation based on the above. The only extra document needed to file for DIC is the death certificate that states cause of death. Please remember that the above is a summary of basic eligibility. Call me for additional information or to set up an appointment, 541-962-8802. I am located at the Center for Human Development, 2301 Cove Ave., La Grande.
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