I am 72 years of age. My yearly income is $15,432 from Social Security. I want to know if I qualify for any veteran widow benefits. I do not have any other income. I have a reverse mortgage on my home so when it is sold I will not realize any income from it. I need to move into a different living situation as I am becoming unable to take care of my home. I am not disabled yet but am looking to the near future.
Carol
You are entitled to spouce survival benefits only if your husband dies in the line of duty. Died from a service related injury or illness. Or if you spouce was received VA disability benefits already at the time of death
Simply being in the service (even during the time of war) does not quality the surviving spouce for any benefits.
If anyone has any reference material that indicates otherwise...please quote the source directly. I have chased down the links and read through it all....so a direct quote would be really helpful
http://www.veteranaid.org/apply.php
Please do seek information and aid from veterans groups, and submit a complete application with all attachments, including originals, to your local veterans' offices.
I would suggest taking a look at our free Veterans Benefits Guide. It contains a specific chapter entitled "Benefits for Surviving Spouses" that will help you to determine your eligibility, information on how to apply, and a list of resources that can help you with this process.
You can find this guide and a number of others in our Caregivers’ Resource Library:
https://www.agingcare.com/eBook/Library
I hope this helps. Best of luck to you, andysmom1.
-AgingCareEditor
Based on what I have read in other posts you probably are entitled to some benefits, but the only way to find out is to contact the VA directly. Good luck.