Veterans Affairs Department
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its adjudication regulations concerning survivors benefits claims to ensure that VA provides the most beneficial outcome for surviving spouses and children. This final rule clarifies that a surviving spouse or child claimant for either Survivors Pension or dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) is entitled to the greater benefit. Thus, with respect to claims processing, VA will concurrently deny Survivors Pension and award DIC, except where paying Survivors Pension would be more beneficial to the claimant, which will only be the case if the claimant is the veteran's surviving spouse and the claimant's application indicates that the claimant does not have any dependents, is currently in a nursing home, and has applied for or is currently receiving Medicaid.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Veterans Affairs 38 CFR Parts 3, 8, and 20 [Docket No. VA-2024-VBA-0008] RIN 2900-AR32 AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its adjudication ( printed page 2710) regulations concerning survivors benefits claims to ensure that VA provides the most beneficial outcome for surviving spouses and children. This final rule clarifies that a surviving spouse or child claimant for either Survivors Pension or dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) is entitled to the greater benefit. Thus, with respect to claims processing, VA will concurrently deny Survivors Pension and award DIC, except where paying Survivors Pension would be more beneficial to the claimant, which will only be the case if the claimant is the veteran's surviving spouse and the claimant's application indicates that the claimant does not have any dependents, is currently in a nursing home, and has applied for or is currently receiving Medicaid. DATES: This rule is effective February 23, 2026. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Baltimore, Management and Program Analyst, Pension and Fiduciary Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, (202) 632-8863. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA has express statutory authority to prescribe regulations regarding “the manner and form of adjudications and awards.” 38 U.S.C. 501(a)(4) . Pursuant to this authority, on March 11, 2024, VA published a proposed rule in the Federal Regist…
Citation: 91 FR 2709
