[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 241 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 241

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the payment of 
  temporary compensation to a surviving spouse of a veteran upon the 
             death of the veteran, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 22, 2015

 Mr. Tester (for himself and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the payment of 
  temporary compensation to a surviving spouse of a veteran upon the 
             death of the veteran, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Family Relief Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR TEMPORARY PAYMENT OF DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY 
              COMPENSATION OR DEATH PENSION UPON THE DEATH OF A 
              VETERAN.

    (a) Temporary Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.--Section 1318 
of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
        (e) and (f), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection (d):
    ``(d)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (b) and section 5101(a)(1) of 
this title and subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the Secretary may pay 
temporary dependency and indemnity compensation under this chapter to 
an individual described in paragraph (2) without regard to whether that 
individual has submitted a claim for such compensation if, at the time 
of the death of the veteran, the veteran was in receipt of or entitled 
to receive (or but for the receipt of retired or retirement pay was 
entitled to receive) compensation for a service-connected disability 
continuously rated as total for not less than one year immediately 
preceding the death of the veteran.
    ``(2) An individual described in this paragraph is an individual 
determined by the Secretary, based on evidence in the file of the 
deceased veteran on the date of the death of the veteran, including the 
veteran's death certificate, to be the surviving spouse of the deceased 
veteran.
    ``(3) Any compensation paid under this subsection shall be made for 
a period not to exceed six months beginning on the first day of the 
month in which the veteran died.
    ``(4) No individual may receive compensation under this subsection 
and receive during the same period--
            ``(A) dependency and indemnity compensation under any other 
        provision of this title; or
            ``(B) pension under section 1541 of this title, except as 
        provided in subsection (h)(5) of that section.''.
    (b) Temporary Pension.--Section 1541 of such title is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following new 
        subsection (h):
    ``(h)(1) Notwithstanding section 5101(a)(1) of this title, the 
Secretary may pay pension at the monthly rate of \1/12\ of the annual 
rate specified in subsection (b) to an individual described in 
paragraph (2) without regard to whether the individual has submitted a 
claim for such pension if, at the time of the death of the veteran, the 
veteran was in receipt of pension under section 1513 or 1521 of this 
title as a married veteran based on the marriage of the veteran to the 
individual.
    ``(2) An individual described in this paragraph is an individual 
determined by the Secretary, based on evidence in the file of the 
deceased veteran on the date of the death of the veteran, to be the 
surviving spouse of the deceased veteran.
    ``(3) Any pension paid under this subsection shall be made for a 
period not to exceed six months beginning on the first day of the month 
in which the veteran died.
    ``(4) Pension authorized by this subsection shall be paid without 
regard to the annual income and net worth of the individual.
    ``(5) If an individual who is paid pension under this subsection is 
entitled to pension under another provision of this chapter or to 
dependency and indemnity compensation under chapter 13 of this title 
for the period for which the individual was paid pension under this 
subsection or any part of that period, the individual shall be paid 
pension under such other provision of this chapter or dependency and 
indemnity compensation under chapter 13 of this title for that period 
in the amount by which the pension or compensation to which the 
individual is entitled exceeds the amount of pension paid under this 
section for that period.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 5101(a)(1) of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ``A specific claim'' and inserting 
``Except as otherwise provided in this title, a specific claim''.
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