Readers of Tom Philpott's Military Update column sound off.

Military Widows Buoyed by Judge's SPB-DIC Ruling

I read your article about the military widows' lawsuit with some dismay but also hope.

I am a military widow. My husband was a Navy officer who died on active duty in 1983. I received Dependency and Indemnity Compensation from the VA which reduced my Survivor Benefit Plan payment.

I remarried in 1999 and lost my DIC. Your article seems to indicate that I can get my DIC restored based on the Veterans Benefit Act of 2003. I missed this information or wasn't informed about it earlier. Your article also indicates I shouldn't have had an SBP offset, if I interpret it correctly.

How do I go about applying for reinstatement of the DIC?

SARA S.
Via e-mail

If you were 57 or older when you remarried in 1999 and lost your DIC, you could have had DIC restored during a one-year open season that Congress established from Dec. 16, 2003, through Dec. 15, 2004. Some eligible widows, however, didn't know to apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs to have their DIC restored, before the open season closed.

Some advocates for military widows believe they had a promise from key lawmakers in 2004 that they would push to lower the age threshold for remarriage once more, to 55, and to establish another open season for restoring DIC. So far, that hasn't occurred.

Widows who did have their DIC restored because remarriage occurred after age 57 now have fingers crossed that the lawsuit brought by three of them, as we reported this month, will result in restoration of full SBP. If these three win, then many more widows who had their DIC during in the open season might reasonably expect their SBP to be restored as well.  – Tom Philpott

Thank you for your timely article on widows' survivor benefits. As a retired military widow, I receive much information from many sources, but your articles are always concise, to the point, and easy to understand. They are a blessing to all of us older military widows.

I pray these three widows will be heard and that something will be done about this SBP/DIC injustice.

MILDRED SIMS
Via e-mail

My husband died in March, 1990. I was qualified to receive either SBP or DIC and elected DIC. I received it until I remarried in June, 1994, at age 63. I received no DIC -- or SBP – for nine years until my DIC was restored in December, 2003, [under the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003].

If Judge Miller's decision becomes final and is upheld, will I qualify for payment of SBP for the period from December 2003?

JEAN GREER.

I believe you would. This assumes that the government, if it loses the lawsuit brought by three widows, would recognize the decision as impacting all widows in similar circumstances, and not require a class action lawsuit. – T.P.

Is there any movement by Congress to eliminate the SBP-DIC offset? This inequity has destroyed my planning for my wife of 56 years.

I have been paying into the Survivor Benefit Plan for 34 years and have a 70-percent service-connected disability. I am in poor health and will be 80 my next birthday. After my demise, my wife will be faced with having her SBP reduced by DIC.

The government would refund premiums for that portion of SBP it no longer paid. But the payment would be in a lump sum, without accumulated interest, and would be taxed at a very unfair rate, in effect ignoring that those premiums were collected on monthly basis.

I do not understand budget people talking about the cost of ending the SBP-DIC offset since the money in the SPB account was paid by me in retired pay reductions. The DIC amount should have been budgeted by the VA.

RICHARD A.
Sergeant Major, USA-Ret.
Lawton, Okla.

Congress has taken a first step toward eliminating the SBP-DIC offset by voting for the $50-a-month "indemnity allowance" for survivors of disabled military retirees who see their SBP annuities reduced each month by the amount they receive in tax-free DIC from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The allowance is to begin Oct. 1, 2008, and will be increased every year by $10 until it reaches $100 a month in 2013. – T.P.

I read that some widows possibly will be eligible to receive both SBP and DIC.  Does this apply only to widows who have remarried?  That would seem strange?

DONNA DABNEY
Via e-mail

You're not alone in seeing this as a strange step by Congress toward ending the SBP-DIC offset, by first bringing relief to widows who remarry after age 57.  In fact, the government, in opposing the widow's claim, argues that their interpretation of the law would lead to disparate treatment of different categories of surviving spouses.

Judge Miller agreed that "it seems a perverse result" given that married people generally "are in a better financial situation than single people" to handle an SBP-DIC offset. On the other hand, he wrote, lawmakers might have perceived this action only an interim step to eliminating the offset for all widows.  A key lawmaker, in fact, confirmed that intention to Military Update in 2003 interview. – T.P. 

Letters may be edited for clarity or length.  Write to Military Forum, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA  20120-1111, send e-mail to militaryforum@aol.com or visit www.militaryupdate.com.