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AAFMAA Blog

Resources, Legislation and Benefits for Gold Star Spouses

2022-01-31

The Captain James C. Edge Gold Star Spouse Equity Act (H.R.2827) was introduced April 22, 2021 to address restrictions on benefits for surviving spouses of servicemembers.

The legislation states that the surviving spouse of a Veteran who remarries before age 55 can still receive their survivor benefits. The Department of Veterans Affairs must also resume payment of dependency and indemnity compensation to surviving spouses who remarried before the age of 57 prior to the enactment of this bill.. This is good news for spouses who may have previously lost access to their benefits upon remarrying.

The Specifics

The law made changes to the remarriage rules for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). Effective Jan. 5, 2021, a Veteran's surviving spouse who remarries after the Veteran's death will remain eligible for the benefit paid by the VA if the spouse is at least 55 years old. Note that the remarriage must have occurred on or after that date.

On the Horizon

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and a Marine Corps Veteran are hoping to include the new legislation in the upcoming defense policy bill for fiscal 2022. This reintroduction, if passed, would eliminate the rules that call for surviving spouses to lose access to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation checks, home loans, education benefits and more if they remarry before age 55.

April 2021 Mr. Waltz, Mr. Moulton, and Mr. Crow introduced an amendment to titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to expand certain benefits for surviving spouses of members of the U.S. Armed Forces who die in line of duty, and for other purposes into Congress.

Additional Resources

How AAFMAA Can Help

Our Military Member Benefits Team provides expert advice on military benefits and entitlements. Give them a call at 1-888-976-3712 (Option 2) or send them an email at [email protected] to let them help you manage all aspects of your military life.