I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4335 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify that the estate of a 

deceased veteran may receive certain accrued benefits upon the death 

of the veteran, to ensure that substituted claims are processed timely, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2014 

Mr. MAFFEI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify that the 

estate of a deceased veteran may receive certain accrued 

benefits upon the death of the veteran, to ensure that 

substituted claims are processed timely, 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 ‘‘Veteran Families Fair5 ness Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS OF CER2 TAIN ACCRUED BENEFITS UPON DEATH OF 

3 BENEFICIARY. 

4 (a) TREATMENT OF ESTATE.— 

5 (1) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—Section 5121(a)(2) 

6 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

8 (A), by inserting ‘‘, or estate,’’ after ‘‘person’’; 

9 and 

10 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

11 subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(D) The estate of the veteran (unless the 

13 estate will escheat).’’. 

14 (2) SUBSTITUTION IN CASE OF DEATH OF

15 CLAIMANT.—Section 5121A(a)(1) of such title is 

16 amended— 

17 (A) by inserting ‘‘, or estate,’’ after ‘‘a liv18 ing person’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

20 sentence: ‘‘The Secretary shall process a claim 

21 of such a substituted claimant by recognizing 

22 the original filing date of the claim and without 

23 penalty to the priority of the claim.’’. 

24 (3) OUTREACH.— 


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1 (A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

2 identify deceased veterans whom the Secretary 

3 determines meet the following criteria: 

4 (i) The veteran died before— 

5 (I) the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act; and 

7 (II) being able to receive periodic 

8 monetary benefits under laws adminis9 tered by the Secretary to which the 

10 veteran was entitled or had filed a 

11 claim to receive. 

12 (ii) Such benefits were not paid to an 

13 individual described in section 5121 of title 

14 38, United States Code, or such claim was 

15 not substituted under section 5121A of 

16 such title. 

17 (iii) If the amendments made by para18 graphs (1) and (2) were in effect on the 

19 date of the death of the individual, such 

20 benefits could have been paid to the estate 

21 of the veteran under section 5121 of title 

22 38, United States Code, or such claim 

23 could have been substituted by the estate 

24 under section 5121A of such title. 


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1 (B) The Secretary shall notify the estate of 

2 each veteran identified under subparagraph (A) 

3 of the ability of the estate to apply for pay4 ments under section 5121 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, as amended by paragraph (1) or 

6 apply to act as a substituted claimant under 

7 section 5121A of such title, as amended by 

8 paragraph (2). In determining such applica9 tions, the Secretary shall substitute ‘‘the date 

10 on which the estate was notified of the eligi11 bility of the estate to apply under this section’’ 

12 for— 

13 (i) ‘‘the date of death’’ in subsection 

14 (c) of such section 5121; and 

15 (ii) ‘‘the date of the death of such 

16 claimant’’ in subsection (a) of such section 

17 5121A. 

18 (4) APPLICATION.—In accordance with para19 graph (3), the amendments made by subsection (a) 

20 and (b) shall apply with respect to the death of an 

21 individual regardless of the date of such death. 

22 (b) REIMBURSEMENTS.—The Secretary of Veterans 

23 Affairs shall— 

24 (1) reimburse a claimant who is awarded a 

25 claim for compensation under title 38, United States 


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1 Code, including an individual or estate under section 

2 5121 and section 5121A of such title, as amended 

3 by this section, for costs that— 

4 (A) relate to the medical treatment of the 

5 claimant; 

6 (B) were charged to the claimant during 

7 the period beginning on the date on which the 

8 claim was filed and ending on the date of such 

9 award; and 

10 (C) would have been paid by the Secretary, 

11 or such treatment would have been provided by 

12 the Secretary, if such treatment occurred after 

13 the date of such award; and 

14 (2) recommend to each claimant, upon the fil15 ing of the claim, to retain receipts and other docu16 mentation relating to costs described in paragraph 

17 (1). 

Æ 


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