{"id":73485,"date":"2022-10-13T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/13\/va-expands-suvivor-benefits-to-include-more-same-sex-couples\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:50:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:50:30","slug":"va-expands-suvivor-benefits-to-include-more-same-sex-couples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2022\/10\/13\/va-expands-suvivor-benefits-to-include-more-same-sex-couples\/","title":{"rendered":"VA expands survivor benefits to include more same-sex couples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/04\/15\/alaska-denied-benefits-to-same-sex-military-spouses-despite-court-rulings\/\" target=\"_blank\">same-sex spouses<\/a> of veterans who were previously ineligible for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/education-transition\/2022\/01\/12\/why-you-need-to-talk-to-your-spouse-about-va-death-benefit-before-retiring\/\" target=\"_blank\">survivor benefits<\/a> will now be able to receive the assistance payouts under policy changes announced by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/09\/30\/va-caregiver-benefits-expand-to-all-vets-on-oct-1\/\" target=\"_blank\">Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials said the move is designed to support same-sex couples who had been together for years but were unable to be legally married until 2015, when the Supreme Court required states to recognize same-sex relationships in the same way as heterosexual unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cVA is closing a gap in benefits for surviving spouses of LGBTQ+ Veterans, righting a wrong that is a legacy of the discriminatory federal ban on same-sex marriages,\u201d said VA Secretary Denis McDonough in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is VA\u2019s mission to serve all veterans \u2014 including LGTBQ+ veterans \u2014 as well as they\u2019ve served our country, and this decision is a key part of that effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/09\/17\/lgbt-vets-with-other-than-honorable-discharges-will-get-va-benefits-under-new-plan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5011128.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">LGBT vets with other than honorable discharges will get VA benefits under new plan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Department officials will announce the plan on Monday, which includes a review of service records to see if individuals&#039; eligibility for benefits should be approved.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials could not say how many individuals may be affected by the change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new policy applies only to individuals who were married between June 2015 (when the Supreme Court decision was issued) and June 2017, and whose veteran spouses later died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At issue is how those individuals qualify for VA survivor pension benefits and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation payouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under current law, individuals must be married to a veteran for at least a year before the veteran\u2019s death in order to qualify. If the couple is married at least eight years before the death, the rate of some benefits increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But because same-sex couples could not legally marry before 2015 across America, some veterans in long-term relationships could not qualify for the payouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials said for veterans who had a same-sex marriage in that two-year time frame, they will consider additional evidence that the couple was in a stable relationship prior to the 2015 marker, and will use that to determine eligibility for benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Examples of proof of relationship status can include \u201ca commitment ceremony, a joint banking account, or joint purchase of a house,\u201d officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new decision is effective immediately, and survivors can apply today for benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Individuals who apply in the next 12 months can receive benefits backdated to Oct. 11, 2022. However, no retroactive benefits will be awarded before that date to any individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2022\/10\/10\/expand-va-abortion-access-to-all-vets-and-dependents-advocates-say\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22279762112616.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Expand VA abortion access to all vets and dependents, advocates say<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Procedure access is limited to cases of rape, incest or complications involving the health of the pregnant veteran.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new policy also will not benefit any same-sex couples who were married after June 2017. Same-sex couples who waited until after that date to get married will fall under the same eligibility criteria as heterosexual couples married then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Survivor pension benefits through VA are based on financial needs. The Dependency and Indemnity Compensation payout, given to surviving spouses of veterans who die from a condition related to their military service, receive about $1,400 a month if they were married for less than 8 years, and about $1,700 if they were married eight or more years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In letter last July, a group of 41 Senate Democrats led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., urged McDonough to make the changes to help same-sex veteran couples, saying the move would \u201chelp end the discriminatory treatment of potentially thousands of same-sex veteran couples and allow them to access the benefits they are owed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The policy change follows an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2021\/09\/17\/lgbt-vets-with-other-than-honorable-discharges-will-get-va-benefits-under-new-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\">announcement in fall 2022<\/a> that VA would review the cases of other-than-honorable veterans who were booted from the military under the now-repealed \u201cdon\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell\u201d law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials said they would restore benefits to individuals who could prove their dismissals were based on their sexual orientation and not other misconduct in the ranks. However, the department so far has not released details on how many veterans have applied or have been granted the benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The policy is designed to help veterans and spouses who could not be legally married until 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-73485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"BUL2F6JVKVD3TPKG4ZBWWWWQLU","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2022\/10\/13\/va-expands-suvivor-benefits-to-include-more-same-sex-couples\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VA expands survivor benefits to include more same-sex couples - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The policy is designed to help veterans and spouses who could not be legally married until 2015.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA expands survivor benefits to include more same-sex couples\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The policy is designed to help veterans and spouses who could not be legally married until 2015.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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