Benefits for Widows of Deceased Veterans

By Ronald Kimmons

Military service members can go back to their homes once they receive discharge from their services. However, some of these veterans die soon after their return due to injuries or diseases acquired while in service, while others die while still in the service. While the surviving spouses of these veterans struggle with the sorrow, the Department of Veterans' Affairs helps them by providing monetary and educational benefits for their spouses' years of service.

As a surviving spouse of a veteran, you may qualify to receive a death pension benefit. You are eligible to receive this benefit if your spouse received an honorable discharge from service and served for at least 90 consecutive days. Your income level is also part of the requirements for Death Pension benefits eligibility; the limit of annual income you can have as a spouse is determined each year by Congress. You are also required to be unmarried. Once you qualify for benefits, you can receive them at any age. You can apply for these benefits online at on the Department of Veterans' Affairs website.

As a widow of a deceased veteran, you may also qualify to receive education benefits. The Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) program helps you pay for the costs of your education. You can use your education benefits for a college degree, job training, certificate programs and apprenticeship. If you qualify to receive VA education benefits, you have 45 months of education benefits that you can use. If your spouse dies due to service-related injuries, or if he was receiving VA disability benefits and he dies from any cause, you may be eligible to receive these benefits. If your spouse dies after service, you have up to 10 years after you became eligible to use your benefits. If your spouse died while in service, you have up to 20 years to use your benefits.

The Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) is a health insurance program available to widows of deceased veterans. To be eligible, your spouse must have died while in service or after service due to a service-related condition. CHAMPVA covers most health care services and supplies that are considered necessary. If you have Medicare, this coverage always pays before CHAMPVA coverage.

As the surviving spouse of a veteran, you may also be eligible to receive home loan benefits. You can apply for a home loan that can be guaranteed by the VA office. This means that your application process will be easier than if you were not to use the VA home loan guaranty and your probability of being approved for the loan is higher than if you were to apply for a loan without VA guaranty. You can apply with any lender that is included in the VA home loan program.

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