I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1681

To amend title 38, United States Code, to allow for substitution of parties 

in the case of a claim for benefits provided by the Department of 

Veterans Affairs when the applicant for such benefits dies while the 

claim is pending, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2003

Mr. EVANS (for himself and Mr. MICHAUD) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to allow for substitution of parties in the case of a claim for benefits 

provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs when 

the applicant for such benefits dies while the claim is 

pending, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Claims Con5 tinuation Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. CONTINUATION OF CLAIM AND SUBSTITUTION OF 

2 PARTIES UPON DEATH OF APPLICANT FOR 

3 BENEFITS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 51 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 5127. Deaths of applicants for benefits: continu8 ation of claims and substitution of parties 

9 ‘‘(a) In the case of a claim for compensation, depend10 ency and indemnity compensation, or pension that was 

11 submitted to the Secretary by a claimant who dies on or 

12 after the date of the enactment of the Veterans Claims 

13 Continuation Act and before a decision on that claim be14 comes final in accordance with section 7291 of this title, 

15 the claim shall not be extinguished if, within the time pe16 riod prescribed in subsection (c)(2), an eligible person sub17 mits an application to the Secretary, or submits a motion 

18 to a court with jurisdiction over the claim, to be sub19 stituted as the claimant in order to continue prosecution 

20 of that claim. The Secretary or the court, as the case may 

21 be, shall approve any such application submitted by an 

22 eligible person. 

23 ‘‘(b)(1) For purposes of this section and section 7270 

24 of this title, and subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the 

25 term ‘eligible person’ means any of the following individ26 uals: 
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1 ‘‘(A) The surviving spouse. 

2 ‘‘(B) Surviving children who have attained the 

3 age of 21. 

4 ‘‘(C) A surviving parent. 

5 ‘‘(D) The executor, administrator or other legal 

6 representative of the deceased claimant’s estate. 

7 ‘‘(E) The heirs of the veteran. 

8 ‘‘(2) In a case where more than one individual re9 ferred to in paragraph (1) submits an application or mo10 tion under subsection (a) to be substituted as a claimant, 

11 the eligible person shall be determined in the order listed 

12 in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (1). In 

13 the case of individuals submitting an application or motion 

14 under subsection (a) who are specified in the same sub15 paragraph of paragraph (1), the eligible person shall be 

16 the first in time to submit such application or motion. 

17 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may determine that an individual 

18 who otherwise would be the ‘eligible person’ for purposes 

19 of substitution for a deceased claimant under this section 

20 is not competent or otherwise is not a proper representa21 tive of the estate. In such a case, the Secretary shall notify 

22 the applicant of such determination in writing and shall 

23 substitute another eligible person to represent the inter24 ests of the deceased claimant. 
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1 ‘‘(c)(1) Upon being notified of the death of a claim2 ant, the Secretary shall send a notice to the estate of the 

3 decedent at the decedent’s last know address and to the 

4 authorized representative of the decedent, if any, inform5 ing the estate and the representative that the claim will 

6 be dismissed unless an application for substitution as the 

7 claimant is received by the Secretary within one year of 

8 the claimant’s death. 

9 ‘‘(2) An application under this section for substi10 tution as the claimant on a claim must be filed not later 

11 than the later of—

12 ‘‘(A) the end of the one-year period beginning 

13 on the date of the claimant’s death; or 

14 ‘‘(B) the end of the six-month period beginning 

15 on the date of the notification under paragraph (1). 

16 ‘‘(d) A person named as a substitute claimant under 

17 section (a) shall be accorded all the rights and responsibil18 ities of the original claimant. 

19 ‘‘(e) If benefits are payable as a result of a decision 

20 on a claim by a substituted claimant named under this 

21 section, such benefits shall be paid as follows:

22 ‘‘(1) If the deceased claimant was claiming ben23 efits as a veteran, to the living person first listed 

24 below: 

25 ‘‘(A) The veteran’s spouse. 
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1 ‘‘(B) The veteran’s children (in equal 

2 shares). 

3 ‘‘(C) The veteran’s dependent parents (in 

4 equal shares). 

5 ‘‘(2) If the deceased claimant was claiming ben6 efits as the surviving spouse of a veteran, to the sur7 viving children of the deceased veteran (in equal 

8 shares). 

9 ‘‘(3) If the deceased claimant was claiming ben10 efits under chapter 18 of this title as the child of a 

11 veteran, to the surviving parents of the child (in 

12 equal shares). 

13 ‘‘(4) If there is no beneficiary who meets the 

14 criteria of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and in all 

15 other cases, to the decedent’s estate, unless the es16 tate will escheat. 

17 ‘‘(f) Upon the appointment of a substitute claimant, 

18 the Secretary shall notify the person substituted as the 

19 claimant as to the evidence or information necessary to 

20 substantiate the pending claim. If such information or evi21 dence is not received within one year from the date of such 

22 notification, no benefits may be paid on the claim. 

23 ‘‘(g) For purposes of section 5112(b) of this title, the 

24 term ‘payee’ as used in such section shall be deemed to 
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1 include a deceased claimant for whom a substitute claim2 ant is appointed under this section.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

4 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new item:

‘‘5127. Deaths of applicants for benefits: continuation of claims and substitution of parties.’’.

6 SEC. 3. PAYMENT OF ACCRUED BENEFITS APPLICABLE TO 

7 DEATHS BEFORE DATE OF ENACTMENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 5121 of 

9 title 38, United States Code, is amended—

10 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

11 striking ‘‘periodic monetary benefits’’ and all that 

12 follows through ‘‘be paid’’ and inserting ‘‘accrued 

13 benefits of a deceased individual who died before the 

14 date of the enactment of the Veterans Claims Con15 tinuation Act that are due and unpaid for a period 

16 not to exceed two years shall be paid’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘only so 

18 much’’ and all that follows through ‘‘burial’’ and in19 serting ‘‘to the decedent’s estate, unless the estate 

20 will escheat’’. 

21 (b) DEFINITION OF ACCRUED BENEFITS.—Such sec22 tion is further amended by adding at the end the following 

23 new subsection: 
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1 ‘‘(d) For purposes of this section and section 5122 

2 of this title, the term ‘accrued benefits’, with respect to 

3 a deceased individual, means periodic monetary benefits 

4 (other than insurance and servicemember’s indemnity) 

5 under laws administered by the Secretary to which the de6 ceased individual was entitled at death under existing rat7 ings or decisions or based on evidence in the file at date 

8 of death.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. SUBSTITUTION OF SURVIVOR IN CASES PENDING 

10 BEFORE A COURT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subchapter II of chapter 72 

12 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

13 the end the following new section: 

14 ‘‘§ 7270. Cases pending on death of claimant: substi15 tution of parties 

16 ‘‘(a) If a claimant dies before filing an appeal under 

17 section 7266 of this title, an eligible person may file an 

18 appeal as a substituted claimant for the decedent within 

19 the time period specified under section 7266 of this title. 

20 If an appellant or respondent dies while a claim is pending 

21 before a court and before a final decision is rendered 

22 under section 7291 of this title, an eligible person may 

23 move the court for substitution of claimant in the pending 

24 action. Any such motion filed with the the United States 

25 Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims or to the United 
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1 States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit must be 

2 filed within the time period prescribed by sections 7266 

3 and 7292 of this title, respectively, or within one year of 

4 the claimant’s death, whichever is earlier. 

5 ‘‘(b) In any case in which a final decision under sec6 tion 7291 of this title has not been made, an eligible per7 son may move a court to be substituted as the appellant 

8 (or respondent as the case may be) for an appellant or 

9 respondent who dies while an appeal is pending. The court 

10 shall, upon filing of a timely motion, appoint an eligible 

11 person to substitute as the claimant to continue prosecu12 tion or defense of that claim. 

13 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this section shall require or authorize 

14 substitution for a deceased claimant if a final decision 

15 under section 7291 of this title has been entered before 

16 the filing of a motion for substitution. 

17 ‘‘(d) In this section, the term ‘eligible person’ has the 

18 meaning given that term in section 5127(b) of this title.’’. 

19 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such sub20 chapter is amended by adding at the end the following 

21 new item:

‘‘7270. Cases pending on death of claimant: substitution of parties.’’.

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 7270 of title 38, 

23 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall 
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1 apply with respect to deaths of claimants on or after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act.

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