Title: To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from requiring a surviving spouse of a veteran to return certain payments for a month in which the veteran dies.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from requiring a veteran's surviving spouse to return payments of dependent's compensation or of a pension as a married veteran for the month in which the veteran dies.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5301 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5301

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs from requiring a surviving spouse of a veteran to 
     return certain payments for a month in which the veteran dies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 15, 2018

Mr. DeFazio (for himself, Mr. Jones, Mr. Turner, Mr. Wittman, Ms. Shea-
Porter, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Cole, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Pearce, Ms. 
 Lofgren, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Gabbard, Ms. Rosen, Ms. 
    Pingree, Ms. Esty of Connecticut, Mr. Tipton, Mr. Courtney, Mr. 
Kennedy, Mr. Kilmer, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Capuano, and Mrs. Roby) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs from requiring a surviving spouse of a veteran to 
     return certain payments for a month in which the veteran dies.

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

SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON REQUIREMENT FOR SURVIVING SPOUSE TO RETURN 
              CERTAIN PAYMENTS BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Surviving Spouse Payment.--Section 5310 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(c) Treatment of Certain Checks and Payments.--In the case of a 
surviving spouse who was a dependent with respect to whom additional 
compensation for dependents was payable under section 1115 of this 
title, or additional pension as a married veteran under chapter 15, as 
of the date of the veteran's death, if a check or other payment issued 
to the veteran as a benefit payment under either such chapter for the 
month in which death occurs is negotiated, deposited, or otherwise 
accessed by the surviving spouse--
            ``(1) the check or payment shall be considered to be the 
        benefit payable to the surviving spouse under subsection 
        (a)(1), to the extent that the check or payment equals the 
        amount which would otherwise be payable under such subsection; 
        and
            ``(2) the Secretary may not require the surviving spouse to 
        return the check or payment.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply with 
respect to deaths that occur on or after that date.
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