Annuitants to receive full SBP and DIC benefits
Are you a Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuitant who receives Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs and who remarried after age 57? If so, a U.S. Court of Appeals decision may benefit you.
On August 26, 2009, the court upheld a decision in the matter of Sharp, et.al. v. the United States. According to the ruling, DFAS is no longer required to deduct DIC payments from monthly SBP annuities, if a person is entitled to both benefits and has remarried after age 57. The Sharp decision became final on October 19, 2009.
Who is eligible?
SBP spouse annuitants who are also entitled to DIC and who remarried after age 57, if current entitlement to DIC is the result of the remarriage after age 57.
Effective date
The effective date is the date of remarriage, but not earlier than Jan. 1, 2004. Annuitants who remarried after age 57 and before January 1, 2004 may also be entitled, provided the annuitant applied to the VA to restore their DIC before December 16, 2004 and were granted such entitlement.
SSIA Impact
Effective with the February 1, 2010 payment annuitants who meet the eligibility criteria under the Sharp litigation will no longer receive the Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA). SSIA is only payable when an SBP annuity is partially or fully offset by a DIC payment from the VA.inputed after the increased annuity payments are implemented. To determine who is entitled to retroactive payments, we will have to review each account, which will take several months.