Survivor Benefits Delivery Improvement Act of 2025

This bill aims to make it easier for survivors and families of people who served to learn about and receive VA benefits. The VA must start collecting basic demographic data on survivors who get benefits and on people who receive burial benefits. The goal is to spot groups that are being missed and improve outreach. Sharing this data is optional and will not affect anyone’s claim decisions. The VA must then label any “underserved” groups and include this information in its annual reports, and it must build outreach and education plans to reach these groups, including raising awareness about eligibility for burial in national cemeteries .

The bill also strengthens direct help to families after a death. When the VA is told that a former service member has died, it must contact each eligible dependent by mail, email, and phone at least once every quarter until a benefits claim is filed. For minors, the VA must contact the legal guardian. Families can opt out. Messages must include how to reach the Office of Survivors Assistance and how to find local, trusted help with filing claims, like veterans service organizations or accredited representatives. The VA must hire 5 to 10 call-center staff to support this work. Outreach rules are updated to cover all who served in the uniformed services, not just those labeled as veterans . The VA must also review whether the Office of Survivors Assistance has the resources it needs and create a plan to fill any gaps.

Key points

• Who is affected: Surviving spouses, children, and parents; other eligible dependents; veterans and people who served in the uniformed services; and people seeking burial benefits .
• What changes: VA collects demographic data to find underserved groups and reports on it; creates outreach plans for survivors and for burial eligibility; expands and standardizes quarterly outreach to surviving dependents with clear help links; adds call-center staff to support families .
• When: Data collection must begin within 180 days of the law taking effect; initial “underserved” designations within one year after data collection starts; outreach strategies within one year of those designations; burial outreach plan within 180 days of those designations; annual burial outreach reports for five years .