What Happens to a Veteran’s Benefits When They Die?

When a veteran dies, their VA disability compensation and pension payments stop the month after death and do not pass to family members automatically. What happens to a veteran’s benefits when they die is really two questions: the veteran’s own payments end, and separate benefits open up for eligible survivors. Surviving spouses, dependent children, and sometimes parents can qualify for monthly compensation, healthcare, education assistance, home loan eligibility, and burial benefits, but each has its own rules and, in some cases, tight deadlines.

Reporting the death promptly is the first thing that matters, because delay creates its own problems before any survivor benefit is even on the table.

Report the Death Before Anything Else

Call the VA at 800-827-1000 and select option 5, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET. You can also visit a VA regional office or mail written notice to the Department of Veterans Affairs Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444, though mail is slower.¹

Have the veteran’s full name, Social Security number or VA claim number, date of birth, date of death, and branch of service ready. If you report in person or by mail, include a copy of the death certificate and the DD214 discharge document if you have it.¹

Speed matters for a practical reason. If the VA keeps depositing payments into the veteran’s bank account after death, those payments become a debt the VA will recoup. The longer you wait, the larger the overpayment survivors may have to return.

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, or DIC, is the main ongoing monthly payment for survivors. It’s tax-free and goes to eligible surviving spouses, children, or parents when a service member dies on active duty or a veteran dies from a service-connected injury or illness.²

DIC also applies when the death was not service-connected, as long as the veteran had a totally disabling service-connected condition rated by the VA for at least 10 years before death, or since discharge and for at least 5 years immediately before death, or for at least 1 year if the veteran was a former prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999.²

Who Qualifies as a Surviving Spouse

A surviving spouse qualifies if they lived with the veteran continuously until death, or if they were separated and the separation was not their fault. The spouse must also have been married to the veteran for at least one year, or had a child with the veteran, or married the veteran within 15 years of discharge from the period of service when the qualifying condition began or worsened.²

Remarriage ends DIC eligibility, with two exceptions. A surviving spouse who remarried on or after December 16, 2003, and was 57 or older at the time can keep receiving DIC. The same applies to a surviving spouse who remarried on or after January 5, 2021, and was 55 or older.²

Children and Parents

Unmarried children qualify if they are under 18, or under 23 and enrolled in an approved school. A child who became permanently unable to support themselves before turning 18 can also qualify regardless of current age. Surviving parents may be eligible for a separate income-based DIC payment if their income falls below VA limits.²

How Much DIC Pays

Effective December 1, 2025, the base monthly DIC payment for a surviving spouse is $1,699.36. This amount adjusts annually for cost of living.³

Additional amounts stack on top of the base:

$421.00 per month for each dependent child
$359.00 per month as a transitional benefit for the first two years after death if you have children under 18
$421.00 per month for aid and attendance if the surviving spouse needs help with daily activities
$197.22 per month if the surviving spouse is housebound due to disability

All DIC payments are tax-free.³

Survivors Pension for Low-Income Families of Wartime Veterans

Survivors Pension is a separate monthly benefit for low-income surviving spouses and unmarried dependent children of wartime veterans. It does not require the death to be service-connected. The veteran must have served during a recognized wartime period and met minimum active-duty requirements. Recognized wartime periods include World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War era, and the Gulf War, which began August 2, 1990, and has no end date set yet.⁴

Eligibility depends on countable income falling below the Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) and net worth not exceeding $163,699. The VA counts most income sources and subtracts unreimbursed medical expenses to reach countable income, then pays the difference between that number and the applicable MAPR.⁵

The 2026 maximum annual rates, effective December 1, 2025:

Surviving spouse alone: $11,699
Surviving spouse with one dependent child: $15,311
Surviving spouse needing aid and attendance: $18,697
Surviving spouse who is housebound: $14,298
Surviving child alone: $2,984

Your actual monthly amount is the MAPR minus your countable income, divided by 12.⁵

Money the Veteran Was Owed at Death

If the VA owed the veteran money at the time of death, such as a compensation increase approved but not yet paid, those unpaid amounts are called accrued benefits. It’s a one-time payment that goes to survivors in a set order: first the spouse, then children in equal shares, then dependent parents in equal shares. If none of those family members exist, the VA can use accrued benefits to reimburse whoever paid for the veteran’s last illness and burial expenses.⁶

The critical deadline: file for accrued benefits within one year of the veteran’s death. If your application is incomplete, the VA will tell you what’s missing, but any additional evidence must also arrive within one year of that notification or the claim dies.⁶ Filing VA Form 21P-534EZ for DIC or Survivors Pension automatically counts as a claim for accrued benefits, so a separate form is not needed.⁷

Burial, Memorial Items, and Life Insurance

For a service-connected death (a veteran who died on or after September 11, 2001), the VA pays up to $2,000 toward burial expenses. There is no filing deadline for service-connected burial claims.⁸⁹

For a non-service-connected death, the VA pays a separate burial allowance and plot allowance when specific conditions are met, such as the veteran receiving VA pension or compensation at death, or dying in a VA facility or VA-contracted nursing home. For deaths on or after October 1, 2024, the burial allowance is $978 and the plot allowance is $978. These figures adjust annually each October. Non-service-connected burial claims must be filed within two years of the veteran’s burial.⁸⁹

Eligible veterans can be buried in a VA national cemetery at no cost to the family, including gravesite, opening and closing, and a headstone or marker. Spouses, surviving spouses (even those who later remarried), and minor children of veterans are also eligible for national cemetery burial.¹⁰

Regardless of where a veteran is buried, the VA furnishes a headstone, marker, or medallion at no cost. Families also receive a U.S. burial flag and can request a Presidential Memorial Certificate signed by the sitting President.⁸

Life insurance is separate from VA benefits and follows the policy’s own claims process. For Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) and Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI), beneficiaries file using form SGLV 8283. If the insured was on active duty, the branch’s Casualty Assistance Office helps submit the claim. Otherwise, submit the form with a death certificate and discharge documents. Other VA life insurance claims use VA Form 29-4125e and can be filed online.¹¹

Healthcare Through CHAMPVA

CHAMPVA is a healthcare program for family members who don’t qualify for TRICARE. You may be eligible if you are the spouse or child of a veteran who was permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition, who died from a service-connected condition, or who was rated permanently and totally disabled at the time of death.¹²

CHAMPVA is cost-sharing, not free healthcare. You pay a $50 annual deductible per person ($100 per family), then 25% of the VA’s allowable amount for covered services.¹³ There’s an annual catastrophic cap of $3,000 per family; once your out-of-pocket costs hit that in a calendar year, CHAMPVA pays 100% of covered costs for the rest of the year. There is no provider network, so most authorized providers can be seen. Military retirees and spouses of veterans killed in action are TRICARE beneficiaries and cannot choose CHAMPVA instead.¹⁴

Education Assistance for Spouses and Children

The Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) program, also called Chapter 35, pays monthly benefits toward college, graduate school, or vocational training. Eligibility runs to spouses and children of veterans who died from a service-connected disability, were permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition, died in the line of duty, are missing in action, or were captured or forcibly detained by a hostile force for more than 90 days.¹⁵

For October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, monthly rates are:

Full-time: $1,574.00
Three-quarter time: $1,244.00
Half-time: $912.00
Quarter-time or less: $393.50, or the cost of tuition and fees, whichever is less

Payments go directly to the student and can cover tuition, housing, books, or other education expenses.¹⁶

Home Loans for Surviving Spouses

Surviving spouses may qualify for a VA-backed home loan, which typically requires no down payment and no private mortgage insurance. You’ll need a Certificate of Eligibility. You can get one if the veteran died in service or from a service-connected disability and you have not remarried, or if you remarried but were at least 57 years old and the remarriage occurred on or after December 16, 2003. Surviving spouses of veterans who were totally disabled at the time of death may also qualify in certain situations.¹⁷

One catch to know about: a surviving spouse who remarried before December 16, 2003, and on or after their 57th birthday had to apply for home loan eligibility by December 15, 2004. The VA denies applications from that group that arrived after that date.¹⁷

Applying and Tax Treatment

DIC, Survivors Pension, and accrued benefits are all claimed on a single form: VA Form 21P-534EZ. Filing it counts as an application for all three at once.⁷

Submit the form with a copy of the death certificate showing the cause of death, the veteran’s DD214 or equivalent discharge document for all periods of service, and income and asset information. For a DIC claim, also gather any private medical records or VA treatment records that connect the veteran’s service to their death.¹⁸

Most VA survivor benefits are not taxable. DIC payments, Survivors Pension payments, and VA education benefits do not need to be reported on your federal tax return.¹⁹ VA life insurance proceeds are also generally tax-free to beneficiaries.

The one-year deadline for accrued benefits is the tightest survivors face, and the two-year window for non-service-connected burial claims can slip by during a hard stretch. Filing Form 21P-534EZ as soon as possible after the death protects eligibility for all three benefits at once and makes sure any money owed to the veteran reaches the right hands.

1
Veterans Affairs. How to Report the Death of a Veteran to VA
2
Veterans Affairs. About VA DIC for Spouses, Dependents, and Parents
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Veterans Affairs. Current DIC Rates for Spouses and Dependents
4
Veterans Affairs. Survivors Pension
5
Federal Register. Veterans and Survivors Pension and Parents Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA)
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 5121 – Payment of Certain Accrued Benefits Upon Death of a Beneficiary
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eCFR. 38 CFR Part 3 Subpart A – Accrued
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Veterans Affairs. Veterans Burial Allowance and Transportation Benefits
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eCFR. 38 CFR 3.1703 – Claims for Burial Benefits
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Veterans Affairs. Eligibility for Burial in a VA National Cemetery
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. How to File an Insurance Death Claim
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Veterans Affairs. CHAMPVA Benefits
13
eCFR. 38 CFR 17.274 – Cost Sharing
14
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. CHAMPVA Guidebook
15
Veterans Affairs. Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA)
16
Veterans Affairs. Chapter 35 Rates for Survivors and Dependents
17
Veterans Affairs. Home Loans for Surviving Spouses
18
Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). VA Form 21P-534EZ – Notice to Survivor of Evidence Necessary to Substantiate a Claim
19
Internal Revenue Service. Veterans Tax Information and Services