Caring for Survivors Act of 2025

The Caring for Survivors Act of 2025 would increase the monthly dependency and indemnity compensation payments made by the Department of Veterans Affairs to surviving spouses of eligible veterans. Dependency and indemnity compensation is a monthly benefit provided to survivors of service members and veterans who died from service-connected conditions or were totally disabled by service-connected disabilities.

The bill would make two key changes to eligibility rules. First, it would reduce from 10 years to 5 years the period that a veteran must have been rated as totally disabled due to a service-connected condition for their survivor to qualify for benefits. Second, it would establish a specific payment amount for survivors of veterans who were rated totally disabled for less than 10 years before death. If enacted, these changes would expand access to survivor benefits and increase financial support for surviving spouses of veterans. The bill is currently under consideration in the House Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.