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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Families Fair-
ness Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS OF CER-
TAIN ACCRUED BENEFITS UPON DEATH OF 
BENEFICIARY. 
(a) TREATMENT OF ESTATE.— 
(1) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—Section 5121(a)(2) 
of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A), by inserting ‘‘, or estate,’’ after ‘‘person’’; 
and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) The estate of the veteran (unless the 
estate will escheat).’’. 
(2) SUBSTITUTION
IN
CASE
OF
DEATH
OF 
CLAIMANT.—Section 5121A(a)(1) of such title is 
amended— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘, or estate,’’ after ‘‘a liv-
ing person’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
sentence: ‘‘The Secretary shall process a claim 
of such a substituted claimant by recognizing 
the original filing date of the claim and without 
penalty to the priority of the claim.’’. 
(3) OUTREACH.— 
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(A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
identify deceased veterans whom the Secretary 
determines meet the following criteria: 
(i) The veteran died before— 
(I) the date of the enactment of 
this Act; and 
(II) being able to receive periodic 
monetary benefits under laws adminis-
tered by the Secretary to which the 
veteran was entitled or had filed a 
claim to receive. 
(ii) Such benefits were not paid to an 
individual described in section 5121 of title 
38, United States Code, or such claim was 
not substituted under section 5121A of 
such title. 
(iii) If the amendments made by para-
graphs (1) and (2) were in effect on the 
date of the death of the individual, such 
benefits could have been paid to the estate 
of the veteran under section 5121 of title 
38, United States Code, or such claim 
could have been substituted by the estate 
under section 5121A of such title. 
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(B) The Secretary shall notify the estate of 
each veteran identified under subparagraph (A) 
of the ability of the estate to apply for pay-
ments under section 5121 of title 38, United 
States Code, as amended by paragraph (1) or 
apply to act as a substituted claimant under 
section 5121A of such title, as amended by 
paragraph (2). In determining such applica-
tions, the Secretary shall substitute ‘‘the date 
on which the estate was notified of the eligi-
bility of the estate to apply under this section’’ 
for— 
(i) ‘‘the date of death’’ in subsection 
(c) of such section 5121; and 
(ii) ‘‘the date of the death of such 
claimant’’ in subsection (a) of such section 
5121A. 
(4) APPLICATION.—In accordance with para-
graph (3), the amendments made by subsection (a) 
and (b) shall apply with respect to the death of an 
individual regardless of the date of such death. 
(b) REIMBURSEMENTS.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall— 
(1) reimburse a claimant who is awarded a 
claim for compensation under title 38, United States 
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Code, including an individual or estate under section 
5121 and section 5121A of such title, as amended 
by this section, for costs that— 
(A) relate to the medical treatment of the 
claimant; 
(B) were charged to the claimant during 
the period beginning on the date on which the 
claim was filed and ending on the date of such 
award; and 
(C) would have been paid by the Secretary, 
or such treatment would have been provided by 
the Secretary, if such treatment occurred after 
the date of such award; and 
(2) recommend to each claimant, upon the fil-
ing of the claim, to retain receipts and other docu-
mentation relating to costs described in paragraph 
(1). 
Æ 
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