Claim Raven explanation
What this means
This section sets alternative marriage requirements for DIC when a veteran died after December 31, 1956. A surviving spouse can satisfy the rule through the timing of the marriage after the relevant service period, at least one year of marriage, or having a child with the veteran.
The first path looks to whether the marriage occurred within fifteen years after the end of the service period in which the injury or disease causing death was incurred or aggravated. The second requires one year or more of marriage. The third allows any marriage duration when a child was born of the marriage or to the couple before marriage.
How this helps your claim
The three numbered paths are alternatives. A claimant does not need to meet all three, but the underlying marriage and surviving-spouse status must still be established under the other applicable provisions.
What to check in your records
Match the marriage and service timeline to each alternative before concluding that duration defeats the claim.
- Confirm the marriage date and the veteran's date of death.
- Identify the service period in which the death-causing condition arose or worsened.
- Preserve birth records if a child was born before or during the marriage.
Test all three alternatives
A decision may focus on the one-year rule because it is easy to calculate. Check whether the fifteen-year service-period path or the child path applies. The relevant service period may require reviewing the cause-of-death finding rather than using the veteran's final separation date automatically.
Keep marriage and birth records with the service and medical evidence about the death-causing condition. If marriage validity, remarriage, or another relationship issue is disputed, section 103 may control that separate question.
Must a surviving spouse always have been married to the veteran for one year?
No. One year is one of three alternatives in this section. A marriage within the specified fifteen-year period or a child born to the couple can satisfy this particular requirement, subject to the other survivor rules.
Official statutory text
38 USC § 1304
OLRC release: pl-119-108. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The statutory text is shown here; publisher source credits and editorial notes remain in the linked official release.
§ 1304. Special provisions relating to surviving spouses
No dependency and indemnity compensation shall be paid to the surviving spouse of a veteran dying after December 31, 1956, unless such surviving spouse was married to such veteran—
(1) before the expiration of fifteen years after the termination of the period of service in which the injury or disease causing the death of the veteran was incurred or aggravated; or
(2) for one year or more; or
(3) for any period of time if a child was born of the marriage, or was born to them before the marriage.
Related references
- 38 USC § 103: Marriage rules for VA survivor benefits
- 38 USC § 1310: When a service-connected death supports DIC
- 38 USC § 1311: DIC rates and additions for a surviving spouse
- 38 USC § 1318: DIC for survivors of certain totally disabled veterans
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