Marilyn asks:
Are there VA Benefits for a surviving spouse who has remarried and what benefits are available for other surviving spouses?
Hey Marilyn,
It turns out there is quite a list of potential benefits for surviving spouses as well as dependents and current spouses.
As with anything, I’d imagine that those benefits are reviewed on a case by case basis and you can see potential benefits on the Department of Veteran’s Affairs article: VA benefits for spouses, dependents, survivors, and family caregivers
Their full list includes:
- Health Care
- Education and Training
- Employment
- Home Loan Programs or Financial Counseling
- Life Insurance Options, Claims, and Beneficiary Assistance
- Pre-need Eligibility Determination for Burial in a VA National Cemetery
- Burial Benefits and Memorial Items
- Survivor’s Pension
- Compensation for Surviving Spouse and Dependents
For the rest of this article we’ll focus on potential surviving spouse benefits
There are potential Health Care benefits through TRICARE for surviving spouses which are limited to those who were married to an active-duty, retired, or deceased service member, National Guard, Reservist, or Medal of Honor Recipient. You can check your eligibility through the VA website.
There is also the possibility for other health care assistance depending on your particular situation so I would highly encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about potential health care to visit the VA website at: Health care for spouses, dependents, and family caregivers
For Education there are potentially the DEA program or Fry Scholarship. The DEA program is potentially available to spouses for up to 20 years while the Fry Scholarship has no time limit but will become no longer available upon remarrying.
You can read more and find out if you qualify here: VA education benefits for survivors and dependents.
VA Home Loans are another potential benefit if you are are eligible to receive a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). To be eligible one of these must be true:
You may be able to get a COE if you’re the spouse of a Veteran, and at least one of these descriptions is true for them.
At least one of these must be true:
- The Veteran is missing in action, or
- The Veteran is a prisoner of war (POW), or
- The Veteran died while in service or from a service-connected disability and you didn’t remarry, or
- The Veteran died while in service or from a service-connected disability and you didn’t remarry before you were 57 years old or before December 16, 2003, or
- The Veteran had been totally disabled and then died, but their disability may not have been the cause of death (in certain situations)
Note: A surviving spouse who remarried before December 16, 2003, and on or after their 57th birthday, must have applied no later than December 15, 2004, to establish home loan eligibility. We’ll have to deny applications we received after December 15, 2004, from surviving spouses who remarried before December 16, 2003. (Source: VA COE Requirement)
There is also the VA Survivor’s Pension which seems on the surface to be for low income surviving spouses and/or their unmarried children. This one seems wild to me because there is no stipulation for whether the servicemember retired or died during service. All that matters is whether the Veteran served during a wartime period which is outlined here: VA Survivors Pension
The final potential benefit that I will cover is the VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). This benefit is similar to the Survivor’s Pension but is focused more directly on disabled veteran’s. The details can be found here: About VA DIC for spouses, dependents, and parents
That’s about all I could find.
I hope it helps,
-Specialist Carroll-
