Sponsors (55)
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Modifies 38 U.S.C. 103(d) to revise the treatment of surviving spouses who remarry: adjusts clause numbering in paragraph (2)(B), inserts a new clause (iii) providing that the remarriage of a surviving spouse shall not bar the furnishing of benefits under section 1311 or 1562 of title 38 to the surviving spouse, strikes paragraph (5)(A), and renumbers former subparagraphs (B)–(E) as (A)–(D).
Amends section 1072(2) of title 10 by adjusting punctuation in subparagraphs (H) and (I)(v) and adding a new subparagraph (J) that expands the definition of 'dependent' to include a remarried widow or widower whose subsequent marriage has ended due to death, divorce, or annulment.
Amends 10 U.S.C. 1450(b)(2) by (1) making payments subject to a new subparagraph (B) that prohibits termination of an annuity for certain surviving spouses solely because they remarry, and (2) requiring the Secretary to resume annuity payments under specified timing rules for surviving spouses who remarried before age 55 and before the date of enactment, with an expedited resumption for those who transferred payments to surviving children under section 1448(d)(2)(B) as in effect on December 31, 2019.
Amends veteran and military family benefit rules so that a surviving spouse’s remarriage no longer automatically ends certain survivor payments or dependent status. Surviving spouses who remarried before age 55 may have annuity payments resumed under rules in the bill, and TRICARE dependent status is expanded to include a remarried widow or widower whose later marriage ended by death, divorce, or annulment.
The bill makes targeted edits to provisions in title 38 (VA benefits) to preserve or restore survivor annuities, and to 10 U.S.C. (TRICARE eligibility) to add the described class of remarried surviving spouses as dependents; it also includes small punctuation and text cleanups.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Introduced February 5, 2025 by Jerry Moran · Last progress February 5, 2025
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Introduced in Senate