Dependency and Indemnity Compensation: Surviving Spouse's Rate; Payments Based on Veteran's Entitlement to Compensation for Service-Connected Disability Rated Totally Disabling for Specified Periods Prior to Death

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its adjudication regulations concerning payment of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) for certain non- service-connected deaths and the rate of DIC payable to a surviving spouse for either service-connected or non-service-connected deaths. The purpose of this final rule is to clarify VA's interpretation of two similar statutes that provide for payments to the survivors of veterans who were, at the time of death, in receipt of or entitled to receive disability compensation for service-connected disability that was rated totally disabling for a specified period prior to death. This rule also reorganizes and revises the regulations governing surviving spouses' DIC rates and revises the Board of Veterans' Appeals rule concerning the effect of unfavorable decisions during a veteran's lifetime on claims for death benefits by the veteran's survivors.