Does VA disability transfer to a surviving spouse?

Details

• The veteran's disability rating and payment are personal to the veteran and are not inherited or transferred.
• DIC under 38 U.S.C. §§ 1310 and 1318 is the survivor's own benefit and uses its own eligibility rules, not the veteran's disability rate.
• Accrued benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 5121 may pay out unpaid amounts the veteran was owed at death, based on evidence already in the file.
• If a claim was pending when the veteran died, a survivor may be able to request substitution rather than a transfer of the existing award.
• Each of these survivor benefits has its own application and, in most cases, a one-year filing window tied to the date of death.