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Death of a Veteran

Part 1 – Untangling benefits before it’s too late.

By Jean Sensel/Contributor 

 Editor’s Note: In the next two issues of the Northwest Veteran we will look at thecomplex issue of death benefits, including who is eligible, where survivors should go for 

help, and what you need to do now to make sure your family receives, in a timely manner,

the veterans benefits you earned serving your country.

Are you a veteran? Does your family know? The common misconception: Onlythose who served during wartime were in active combat, or stayed long enough to retireare veterans. Not so.

“We have so many who don’t know they are eligible (for veterans benefits)…especially the elderly and widows, who may be living below the poverty level,” Lourdes“Alfie” Alvarado-Ramos, deputy director, Washington State Department of VeteranAffairs.

A veteran is anyone who served honorably in the military. In somecircumstances, so is a civilian employed overseas. But the level of death benefitsdepends on several factors: whether active duty, retired, inactive or active Reserve or Guard; served in wartime or peacetime and when, where, and how long; has service-related disease or disability; survivor’s age and income level; and various combinationsof these.

Who can receive death benefits?

Widow’s, widowers, minor children, dependent disabled older children, anddependent parents over age 62 of active duty, retired, and veterans can get some level of financial and funeral assistance. So can families of Inactive Reserve and Guard memberswho die during authorized travel to training, during training, from a disease or injuryrelated to or aggravated by training, or is they were drawing or would have been eligiblefor retired pay.

What are the benefits?

Survivor’s benefits can include help with funeral and burial costs, death gratuitiesand pensions, insurance, survivor’s income, education benefits, civil service job preference, GI home loan, funeral honor guard and grave marker.

Funeral and burial expenses

“Unfortunately, a lot of older veterans think they’re going to get their burial paidfor and they’re not,” says Washington State Funeral Director Association President GaryMers, “unless you’re active duty, on military disability, or get buried in a nationalcemetery.”

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The VA does have a burial allowance under certain conditions, though, andWashington State has funds for indigent veterans. A grave marker is nearly always provided. Retirees and their spouses and minor children can be buried in a nationalcemetery with most costs covered. Cremation or body preparation is at family expense.Dependents are interred in the same plot as the military member is or will be, and their 

headstone inscription is also at no cost.If a retiree or veterans dies in a military or VA facility, the government pays for transportation to a local mortuary and from there to place of interment.

Funeral honors

“It’s important to us to pay final respect to those who have served our countryhonorably,” said mortuary affairs officer Captain Shawn Campbell, McChord Air ForceBase Services squadron commander. “The funeral doesn’t need to be near a base. Wecan make arrangements by phone and mail, and we travel up to eight hours to be there.That includes scattering ashes, not just burial.”

All branches of service provide funeral honors. The size of the honor guard

depends upon whether the deceased was active duty, retired, or a veteran. For veterans,the honor guard folds and presents the flag and plays TAPS. For active duty and retirees,the guard fires a salute and can also serve as pallbearers.

Financial benefits

Low-income dependents of wartime veterans only may qualify for a VA death pension that varies to bring the household income up to a minimum level. There are 22conditions, so check it out.

VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, or DIC, pays dependents aminimum of $1,033 per month under certain conditions, including death from service-related disease or disability.

“There’s an offset between disability and retirement pay, so veterans don’t apply because they don’t want to go through the hassle,” says Alex Silva, chief of RetirementServices at Fort Lewis. “But it can make a real difference to their families after they’regone.” Another advantage: application puts your DD 214 in a secure and accessible file.

A portion of retired pay continues only if you have elected the Survivors BenefitsPlan, or SBP.

“We’re dealing mostly with World War II and Vietnam era widows,” adds PatriciaGeorge, chief of the Fort Lewis Casualty Assistance Center at Fort Lewis. “Many don’teven know that their spouse declined SBP.”

Plan ahead for your family’s financial security

Check out the following sites. Download the benefits pages that apply to you andhighlight the conditions that you meet. Add the documents needed to verify thoseconditions, and keep all with your file of important papers. Tell trusted family memberswhere they are.

“Don’t put wills and other important papers in a safe deposit box with just your name on it,” says George Kelly, a Tacoma attorney. “It can be frozen on your death andtake a special court process to get to.” Kelly recommends that both your spouse and anadult child’s name be on the account.

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*www.va.govClick on Benefits and Burial and Memorials or call (800) 827-1000.

*www.cem.va.gov National cemetery burial benefits and locations; read the FAQs.

*www.militaryfuneralhonors.osd.milEligibility, approved funeral directors and other links.

*www.vba.va.govExplains DIC and other financial and educational benefits.

*www.armyg1.army.mil/retireClick on SBP Open Enrollment Period.

*www.militarybenefits.com

A comprehensive list of benefits and eligibility; not as easy to navigate as thelinks above.

*www.vetrecs.archives.govCheck this site to replace a DD 214; can take up to eight months.

Your next of kin must have original or certified copies, not photocopies, of thefollowing:

*DD 214 or certificate of discharge*Retirement pay data*Date and location of prior marriages and divorces for both spouses*Date and place of death of any prior spouse*Birth certificates for all family members*Any adoption or custody papers*Any immigration or naturalization papers*VA disability claim numbers*VA insurance policy numbers*Social Security cards

*www.socialsecurity.gov lists data needed to apply for a $255 lump sum death benefit.

 Next month: What happens when a veteran dies?