Under current law, surviving spouses of veterans who die of a service-related injury or illness may receive monthly payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation program (DIC). Generally, for a surviving spouse to receive DIC payments, the veteran must have died from a service-connected disability or be rated as totally disabled by VA for at least ten years prior to death. If the veteran was rated as totally disabled for at least eight full years and the surviving spouse was married to the veteran for those same eight years, the spouse is eligible to receive a higher DIC benefit.
