38 USC: VA Disability Laws Explained: Page 4

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1. 38 USC § 1304
   Statute

   Marriage-duration rules for surviving-spouse DIC

   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.

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2. 38 USC § 1305
   Statute

   DIC reevaluation after a new service presumption

   When a law, regulation, federal court decision, or settlement establishes or changes a service-connection presumption, this section requires VA to identify certain previously denied DIC claims and let the claimant elect reevaluation. An approved reevaluation receives the special effective-date treatment stated here.

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3. 38 USC § 1310
   Statute

   When a service-connected death supports DIC

   This section authorizes dependency and indemnity compensation for a qualifying surviving spouse, child, or parent when a veteran dies from a service-connected or compensable disability. It generally applies the chapter 11 service-connection standards to the cause of death.

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4. 38 USC § 1311
   Statute

   DIC rates and additions for a surviving spouse

   This section establishes the surviving-spouse DIC rate structure and additions for specified circumstances, including a veteran's qualifying period of total disability, children under 18, aid and attendance, housebound status, and a temporary child-related increase.

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5. 38 USC § 1313
   Statute

   DIC payments to children when no spouse is entitled

   This section provides DIC in equal shares to a deceased veteran's children when no surviving spouse is entitled to DIC. It also addresses a retroactive adjustment when an older child's entitlement is restored because the child is pursuing approved education.

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6. 38 USC § 1314
   Statute

   Supplemental DIC for certain adult children

   This section provides additional or concurrent DIC for certain children age 18 or older. It covers a child who became permanently incapable of self-support before 18 and a child who has reached age 18, is under 23, and pursues approved education while DIC is paid to a surviving spouse.

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7. 38 USC § 1315
   Statute

   Income-based DIC for a veteran's parents

   This section establishes DIC for dependent parents of a deceased veteran. Payment depends on whether there is one parent or two, whether they live together or a parent lives with a spouse, annual income, specified exclusions, and possible aid-and-attendance status.

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8. 38 USC § 1318
   Statute

   DIC for survivors of certain totally disabled veterans

   This section can pay DIC as though death were service connected when a veteran had a qualifying continuous total-disability rating before death. It provides separate duration paths for ten years before death, five years from release from active duty, and certain former prisoners of war.

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9. 38 USC § 2101
   Statute

   Who may qualify for specially adapted housing assistance

   This section defines disability paths for two VA housing-adaptation programs. The larger specially adapted housing path covers specified permanent service-connected losses, blindness, burn injuries, and functional loss of extremities, while a separate residence-adaptation path covers loss of both hands and severe burn injuries.

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10. 38 USC § 2102
    Statute

    Limits and payment rules for VA housing adaptation grants

    This section sets payment plans, aggregate limits, grant-frequency rules, annual adjustments, a future additional-assistance path, and overpayment procedures for housing assistance authorized by section 2101. The applicable limit depends on the program and project.

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11. 38 USC § 3901
    Statute

    Eligibility definitions for VA automobile assistance

    This section defines who is an eligible person for the automobile-assistance chapter and what counts as adaptive equipment. It covers specified service-connected loss or permanent loss of use, qualifying bilateral vision impairment, and severe burn injury.

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12. 38 USC § 3902
    Statute

    VA automobile and adaptive-equipment assistance

    This section authorizes payment toward an automobile or other conveyance for an eligible person and requires necessary adaptive equipment for safe operation. It also covers repair, replacement, and reinstallation of adaptive equipment and allows another person to operate the vehicle.

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13. 38 USC § 5105
    Statute

    Joint applications for Social Security and VA survivor benefits

    This section allows a survivor's application showing intent to seek survivor benefits, filed with either VA or the Social Security Administration, to be treated as an application under both the Title 38 DIC chapter and Social Security title II. The agencies transmit the filing and relevant supporting material to each other.

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14. 38 USC § 5301
    Statute

    Protection of VA benefits from assignment and many creditor claims

    This section generally makes VA benefits nonassignable, tax exempt, and protected from creditor attachment, levy, or seizure before and after receipt. It also contains significant exceptions for federal claims, tax levies, insurance obligations, certain offsets, and property bought with the benefits.

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15. 38 USC § 5302
    Statute

    Requesting waiver of a VA overpayment debt

    This section permits waiver of benefit overpayments when collection would be against equity and good conscience. It requires a waiver request within one year after VA's debt notice, with a possible longer reasonable period when the payee shows the notice was not actually received within a reasonable time.

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16. 38 USC § 5302B
    Statute

    When VA processing delay may not create a benefit debt

    This section bars an individual from incurring a debt caused by VA's failure to process information supplied by or for the individual within the Secretary's applicable timeliness standards. It also requires detailed overpayment notice and generally delays federal collection action for 90 days.

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17. 38 USC § 5303
    Statute

    Statutory character-of-discharge bars to VA benefits

    This section lists service-separation circumstances that bar benefits based on the affected period, including a general court-martial sentence, desertion, specified conscientious-objector conduct, certain officer resignations, and some prolonged unauthorized absences. It also contains important exceptions and special discharge-review rules.

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18. 38 USC § 5303A
    Statute

    Minimum active-duty service requirements and exceptions

    This section generally requires certain people who entered service after specified dates to complete the shorter of 24 continuous months or the full period called or ordered. It contains major exceptions, including disability-related releases and benefits connected with a service-connected disability, condition, or death.

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19. 38 USC § 5303B
    Statute

    Requesting a VA character-of-service determination

    This section requires VA to provide a process for a former service member to seek a determination about whether the discharge or dismissal from a particular service period bars benefits. If VA finds a bar, it must provide information about ways to address the condition.

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20. 38 USC § 5304
    Statute

    When federal law prevents duplicate benefit payments

    This section limits concurrent payment of specified VA benefits, military retired pay, active-service pay, and some survivor benefits. It also preserves stated exceptions, including certain concurrent-retirement authorities and particular pension treatment.

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21. 38 USC § 5305
    Statute

    Waiving retired pay to receive VA compensation or pension

    This section allows a person receiving specified military or uniformed-service retired pay to waive an equal amount of that pay so VA pension or compensation can be paid. The retired-pay department reports the waiver amount and effective date to VA to prevent duplicate payment.

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22. 38 USC § 5307
    Statute

    When VA may apportion benefits to family members

    This section authorizes VA to direct all or part of certain benefits to a spouse, child, or dependent parent in specified care, separation, custody, or incarceration situations. Current regulations sharply limit the circumstances for new apportionment claims received on or after February 9, 2026.

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23. 38 USC § 5310
    Statute

    VA benefits for the month a veteran dies

    A surviving spouse may receive the amount the veteran would have received for the month of death when the veteran was receiving chapter 11 compensation or chapter 15 pension, or is later found entitled for that month under the accrued-benefit or substitution rules.

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24. 38 USC § 5313
    Statute

    VA payment limits during felony incarceration

    This section limits compensation or DIC after more than 60 days of incarceration for a felony conviction. The reduced amount begins on the sixty-first day and ends when incarceration ends, with exceptions for work release and residence in a halfway house.

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25. 38 USC § 5313B
    Statute

    VA benefit restrictions for fugitive felons

    This section bars payment or provision of listed VA benefits during a period when the veteran or, in some circumstances, a dependent is a fugitive felon. It defines the term through flight to avoid felony prosecution or custody and violation of felony probation or parole.

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