Survivor Benefits Update

摘要

Recent legislation has changed several components of survivor benefits. Survivor benefits are composed of multiple allowances that surviving spouses, children, and other dependents may be eligible to receive due to the death of a servicemember. These allowances are either in the form of monthly payments such as Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), Dependent Education Assistance, and Survivor Benefit Program (SBP), or lump sum payments from Service Members Group Life Insurance (SGLI) and the Death Gratuity. This update will highlight those changes so that legal assistance attorneys can effectively assist servicemembers and surviving Family members understand what benefits they are eligible to receive. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (NDAA 2007) made several changes to SBP, SGLI, and other benefits. First, SBP was amended to allow for the election of a new beneficiary upon the death of the originally designated beneficiary. Previously, when the primary beneficiary died, the only option was to withdraw from the SBP. Now, if the primary beneficiary dies, the servicemember participating in the plan may elect a natural person of insurable interest such as a child, new spouse, or parent within 180 days after the death of the previous beneficiary.