Heard About the Survivor Benefit Plan-Dependency Indemnity Compensation Court Case Win?
Nov 02 2009
In August, three widows won their court case against the Feds to have both their SBP and DIC paid in full. Before you start to celebrate, you need to hear the rest of the story…
This case specifically related to the law that allows widows who remarry after age 57 to keep their DIC benefits. Their case argued that the wording of the law that allows continued DIC after age 57 and remarriage also mandates full payment of both SBP and DIC. This specific provision of the law bars offsets from any “veterans’ benefits.” While the Feds argued that SBP is not a “veterans’ benefit” because SBP is paid by DOD and not the VA, the courts didn’t buy it.
So the bottom line is that if you are eligible for both SBP and DIC and you remarried after age 57, you will receive both survivor payments without offset.
If you meet these criteria, the DOD is in the process of identifying you. Once identified, you will receive full payment of both SBP and DIC retroactive back to 2004 or the date of your remarriage, whichever is later. Payments will be reduced by any SBP premium refunds or Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) you have received.
As for the rest of you, you will continue with an offset of your SBP. On the bright side, this ruling, along with the SSIA legislation, provides a compelling reason for the elimination of the SBP-DIC offset. How can the Feds think one group of survivors should have offsets while another group doesn’t?
