Court Rules in Favor of Military Widows

Week of July 07, 2008

A recent federal court ruling voted in favor of restoring an estimated $30 million in death benefits that were wrongly withheld from the surviving spouses of disabled military retirees.

The decision in Sharp, et al v. United States, handed down by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ordered the Department of Defense (DoD) to refund military retiree Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities that were withheld from three widowed spouses who also received veterans' dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The court found that the DoD's dollar-for-dollar deduction of DIC payments from SBP benefits was based on a faulty interpretation of federal law.

Read the article on Military.com.

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