Adding Dependents: Extra Monthly Pay You May Be Missing

If your combined disability rating is 30% or higher, you are entitled to additional monthly compensation for each qualifying dependent — spouse, children, and in some cases dependent parents. These additions are not automatic. You must file to add them, and many veterans at 30, 40, or 50 percent have never done so — which means benefits going unclaimed every month.

At a 70% rating, adding a spouse increases your monthly payment from $1,716 to $1,851 — an additional $134 per month, or over $1,600 per year. Adding a child increases it further. The amounts scale upward with your rating. At 100%, the dependent supplements are larger still. There is no reason not to file if you have qualifying dependents.

Who Qualifies as a Dependent

How to Add Dependents

Submit VA Form 21-686c (Declaration of Status of Dependents) through VA.gov or by mail to your Regional Office. For school-age children between 18 and 23, also submit VA Form 21-674 (Request for Approval of School Attendance). You will need marriage certificates, birth certificates, and enrollment documentation. Processing typically takes 30 to 60 days, and the additional compensation is retroactive to the date the VA receives your complete application — so file promptly.

If your family situation changes — divorce, a child aging out, a child leaving school — you are required to notify the VA. Failure to report a change in dependent status results in overpayment that the VA will eventually recoup. Report changes promptly through VA.gov or by contacting your Regional Office.

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Check Your Rating Decision Letter

Your rating decision letter lists the dependents currently recognized in your file. If your spouse or children are not listed and your rating is 30% or higher, you are not receiving the dependent supplements you are entitled to. File VA Form 21-686c now. The additional pay is retroactive to the filing date — not to when your dependents first became eligible. File as soon as possible.

CHAMPVA: Free Healthcare for Your Family

CHAMPVA — the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs — provides healthcare coverage for the dependents of veterans who are permanently and totally disabled due to service-connected conditions. If you hold P&T status, this benefit alone may be worth thousands of dollars per year to your family.

CHAMPVA is not Medicare or Medicaid. It is a comprehensive healthcare benefit modeled on the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. It covers most medically necessary care — doctor visits, specialist consultations, hospitalizations, surgeries, mental health care, prescription medications, durable medical equipment, and skilled nursing care. CHAMPVA pays 75% of the allowable cost after a $50 annual deductible per beneficiary ($100 per family maximum). The beneficiary pays the remaining 25%, subject to a catastrophic cap of $3,000 per calendar year per family — after which CHAMPVA pays 100%.

Who Qualifies

Applying for CHAMPVA

Submit VA Form 10-10d (Application for CHAMPVA Benefits) to the VA Health Administration Center (HAC) in Denver, Colorado — not to your Regional Office. Include a copy of the veteran's rating decision showing P&T status, your marriage certificate, birth certificates for children, and for school-age children between 18 and 23, a current school certification. Processing takes approximately 8 to 12 weeks from a complete application. Once approved, CHAMPVA beneficiaries receive an ID card and information packet on how to use the benefit.

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CHAMPVA and Medicare Enrollment

When a CHAMPVA beneficiary turns 65 or otherwise becomes eligible for Medicare, they must enroll in Medicare Part B to continue CHAMPVA coverage. CHAMPVA then becomes the secondary payer, covering much of what Medicare does not. Failure to enroll in Medicare Part B when first eligible can result in permanent loss of CHAMPVA eligibility — not just a gap in coverage. This is one of the most costly administrative mistakes CHAMPVA families make. Mark the date and enroll promptly.

Dependents' Educational Assistance (Chapter 35 / DEA)

The Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance program — called Chapter 35 or DEA — provides up to 45 months of education and training benefits for eligible dependents of permanently and totally disabled veterans. Unlike the GI Bill, DEA is specifically designed for families — the veteran does not need to transfer anything, and the benefit is available to both spouses and children simultaneously if both are enrolled in qualifying programs.

Who Is Eligible

What the Benefit Pays

DEA pays approximately $1,224 per month for full-time enrollment at a college or university (2024 rate). Rates are proportional for less-than-full-time enrollment. Benefits can be used at degree-granting institutions, vocational and technical schools, correspondence courses, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training programs. The 45 months of eligibility is per person — if both a spouse and a child are eligible, each receives their own 45-month entitlement.

DEA can be used simultaneously with other financial aid programs. However, it is worth noting that for families where the GI Bill was transferred to dependents before the veteran's separation, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) typically provides more generous benefits — full tuition at public institutions plus a monthly housing allowance. DEA is the primary option for dependents of veterans who separated before the GI Bill transfer was possible or who did not have sufficient service to be eligible for transfer.

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)

DIC is a monthly benefit paid to the surviving spouse — and in some cases to dependent children and parents — of a veteran who died as a result of a service-connected condition, or who was permanently and totally disabled for a specified period before death regardless of the cause of death. DIC is separate from life insurance and separate from any savings or assets the veteran had. It is a VA benefit the family earned through the veteran's service.

Two Paths to DIC Eligibility

Path 1

Death from Service-Connected Condition

The veteran's death was caused by a service-connected disability — meaning the condition directly caused death or substantially contributed to it. The surviving spouse must have been legally married to the veteran at the time of death and must not have remarried (with limited exceptions).

Path 2

Long-Term Total Disability Before Death

The veteran was continuously rated totally disabled — 100% schedular or TDIU — for at least 10 years immediately before death, OR for at least 5 years from date of discharge, OR for at least 1 year if the veteran was a former POW. Under this path, DIC is paid regardless of what caused the death.

DIC Monthly Rate and Add-Ons (2024)

The base DIC rate for a surviving spouse is $1,612.75 per month as of December 2023. Additional amounts are available in specific circumstances:

Applying for DIC

Submit VA Form 21P-534EZ (Application for DIC, Death Pension, and/or Accrued Benefits by a Surviving Spouse or Child) to your VA Regional Office. Include the veteran's death certificate, your marriage certificate, and documentation of either the service-connected cause of death or the veteran's total disability rating history. DIC claims can be complex — if the veteran's death was not directly from a service-connected condition, establishing service connection for the cause of death requires the same three-element analysis as any disability claim. Work with a VSO or accredited attorney on DIC claims that are not straightforward.

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The SBP-DIC Offset Has Been Eliminated

For decades, surviving spouses who received both DIC and the military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) had their SBP payment reduced dollar-for-dollar by their DIC amount — a policy widely called the "widow's tax." The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 phased out this offset completely, with full elimination effective January 1, 2023. Surviving spouses now receive the full amount of both SBP and DIC simultaneously with no reduction. If you were previously told you had to choose, or if your SBP was reduced by DIC, that is no longer the case. Contact the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) to ensure your SBP payments have been corrected.

Survivors Benefit Plan (SBP)

SBP is a Department of Defense annuity program separate from VA benefits. Military retirees elect SBP coverage at retirement — paying premiums from their retired pay during their lifetime — which then provides a monthly annuity to the surviving spouse after death. The annuity is 55% of the covered retired pay amount. As noted above, SBP now runs fully alongside DIC with no offset between them.

Key SBP facts surviving spouses should know: the annuity is taxable income but is adjusted annually for cost of living. A surviving spouse who remarries before age 55 loses SBP benefits — though if that remarriage later ends through death or divorce, SBP eligibility may be restored. Contact DFAS at 1-800-321-1080 for SBP questions — they administer the program, not the VA.

State Benefits: What Varies and What to Check

Every state offers some combination of benefits for veterans' dependents and surviving spouses — and the range of what is available is often far larger than families realize. Benefits are not automatically applied; most require a separate application to your state's Department of Veterans Affairs or relevant state agency.

Commonly available state benefits for dependents and surviving spouses of P&T veterans or veterans who died in service include:

Contact your state's Department of Veterans Affairs directly — do not rely on the federal VA website for state-specific benefits. State programs change frequently, and the state DVA will have the most current information and the applications you need.