•        1. What is death pension?

Death pension is a needs based benefit paid to a surviving spouse, or an unmarried dependent child of a deceased wartime veteran.

•        2. What are the widow's eligiblity requirements?

They may be eligible if:

• The Widow (Claimant) must be the surviving spouse of the deceased veteran.
• The surviving spouse must have not remarried (there are limited exceptions), must have been married to the veteran for at least 12 months (unless they had a child), and must have been married to the veteran at the time of the veteran's death.
• The claimant's adjusted income is below a yearly limit set by law.
  
  As you can see, there are a number of criteria that may affect the claimant's eligibility to pension benefits. If they are unsure if they meet all criteria, the VA encourages them to go ahead and file an application, particularly if their countable income appears to be near the maximum pension amount. The VA will determine if they are eligible and notify them. If they do not initially qualify, they may reapply if they have un-reimbursed medical expenses during the twelve month period after VA receives their claim that brings their countable income below the yearly income limit. Un-reimbursed medical expenses are expenses they have paid for medical services or products for which they will not be reimbursed by Medicare or private medical insurance.
  
  We caution them to discuss their situation with a knowledgeable attorney. If they follow the VA's direction they will not file when they are actually eligible and could miss out on a significant amount of benefits. The claimant should file for pension benefits when their adjusted income is less than the maximum pension benefit or as soon as possible if there is a realistic expectation that adjusted income will be less than the maximum pension within 12 months of filing the claim.