Veterans and their families provide each other with immeasurable support. Veterans who are disabled, however, may not be able to provide as much financial support to their families as they wish they could. Luckily, in many cases, the VA pays disabled veterans additional compensation based on the number of dependents they have. A veteran’s dependents may also be entitled to VA education benefits and, if the veteran dies, certain VA death benefits. Sometimes, it is obvious who qualifies for these valuable benefits. Other times, it is not clear whether the VA will consider a person a dependent or survivor of a veteran.

In this webinar, we will answer many of the difficult questions about dependency issues that advocates encounter when assisting veterans or their survivors, from what VA benefits a veteran’s former spouse may be entitled to following a divorce, to whether the VA must pay a dependency allowance for a grandchild in the veteran’s legal custody.

This webinar will cover:
• Who qualifies as a veteran’s spouse, including rules related to same-sex marriage, common law marriage, and marriages deemed valid despite a legal impediment to the marriage
• The effect of separation, divorce, and remarriage on entitlement to VA benefits
• Who qualifies as a veteran’s child, including rules related to adopted children, step-children, “illegitimate” children, minors in the court-appointed custody of a veteran, and helpless children
• The impact of divorce on VA and military benefits, including whether those benefits are divisible assets and can be considered for child support, and when VA benefits can be garnished
• Apportionment of VA benefits
• VA payments to dependents when the veteran is a fugitive felon
• The unique rules for simultaneously contested claims
• And more!