Military Spouse Survivor Benefits

I have read a number of stories on this site that uses the plot device of having a military member dying and leaving his/her spouse (but almost always female) financially destitute.

Folks, unless extraordinary circumstances exist, this is simply not the case upon the death of a US military service member. Having worked in this field for a number of years I must tell you that the current death benefits that accrue to a surviving spouse, especially one that has minor children, are generally very adequate to support the life style they enjoyed prior to the service member's death.

Individual circumstances will always affect the benefits received but the following should allow contributors with no direct knowledge of survivor death benefits enough information to formulate a story without making the main premise totally unbelievable.

Lump Sums

The service member's spouse/family will typically receive $500,000 in lump sum benefits upon his/her death.

SGLI

When I entered the military long ago the Servicemember's Group Life Insurance (SGLI) benefit was a whopping $35,000. Over the years I have watched the amount increase so that now service members who die on active duty will leave their spouses a death benefit of $400,000. SGLI is a term insurance policy that currently costs the service member $26 monthly. The active duty/reserve service member is signed up for this automatically. Yes, it is possible to opt out of SGLI but given the low monthly cost this is rarely done. This insurance is paid tax free to the spouse/family.

Upon marriage the service member who signs up for spousal benefits is automatically given a form to designate his/her new spouse as the beneficiary of this SGLI. Is it possible to have someone else as the beneficiary? Yes it is. Not normally done but it can happen.

Death Gratuity

Second, there is a one time tax-free lump sum gratuity benefit of $100,000 that is payable for a service member who dies on active duty or within 120 days after separation from active duty. I have never seen this go to anyone but the spouse but the service member is permitted to designate one alternative beneficiary to receive up to 50% of the benefit. This benefit is provided at no cost to the service member.

Monthly Benefits

The service member's surviving spouse and family are also entitled to monthly benefits.

DIC

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) is a government benefit administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and payable to the survivors of service members who die on active duty.

Spousal DIC

The current spousal benefit is $1,154 monthly.

There are rules:

It has to be applied for.

It does not start automatically.

If the surviving spouse remarries the benefit stops. (But if the remarriage ends in death or divorce the annuity is reinstated.)

The surviving unmarried spouse must have lived continuously with the veteran from the date of the marriage to his/her death unless the separation was not the fault of the surviving spouse.

They must have been married for 1 year or more. If there was a child born of the union the 1 year minimum does not apply.

In addition to the $1,154 above there is also a transitional DIC paid to the spouse who is caring for a child under the age of 18. It is an additional $286 and paid for 2 years or until the child reaches 18, whatever occurs first.

Children's DIC

The service member's unmarried natural children, legally adopted children, stepchildren, and illegitimate children, but not foster children entitled to their own DIC benefits.

Again there are rules:

The child must be under 18, or if over 18 be either permanently incapable of self support or attending a VA approved educational institution and not receiving benefits under the Educational Assistance Act. (DEA) The DEA benefits are higher than DIC so if there is a choice you go with DEA.

If there is a surviving spouse living the benefit is $286 monthly whether or not the child is living with that spouse.

If there is no surviving spouse the amount of the benefit depends on the number on children. One child = $488 monthly. Two children = $350 each monthly. Three children = 305 each monthly.

Again the benefit stops at 18 or upon marriage but an eligible disabled child will receive the benefit for life.

Active Duty SBP

The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) supplements DIC. It is payable to the surviving spouse. This amount will vary based on the service member's pay grade and length of service.

For the junior enlisted pay grades this benefit will not really come into play and will not really pay anything substantial until they have served for 10 years. For officers this would be available except to the brand new officer.

So for story purposes this can be ignored.

Social Security Benefits

The service member's surviving children, not the surviving spouse, are usually eligible for Social Security benefits. In reality, of course, the surviving spouse who is caring for the children receives the payments to be used for their benefit but it is important to note the benefit is for the children not the spouse.

The benefits are payable to the caregiver until the child reaches the age of 16. At 16 the child receives a reduced benefit directly until the age of 18 (or 19 if still in high school.) Then the benefit stops. It used to extend into the college years but that is no longer the case.

It is possible for someone to be married and have a child and not have been eligible for Social Security benefits. But you would have to try very hard not to be eligible. Social Security eligibility is based on "credits." You can earn a maximum of 4 credits a calendar year. $1,120 earns one credit. Making more than $4,480 does not earn you more credits in that year.

Under a special rule, Social Security can pay benefits to children and a spouse who is caring for the children even if the service member did not have the number of credits needed. They can get benefits if the member has credits for one and one-half year's work (6 credits) in the three years just before his/her death.

So someone who worked even part time through high school probably accumulated some credits. But let's say that is not the case. Upon joining the military they had to go through some training. That would take a few months at the minimum. With current pay scales 4 credits have to be earned that year. Unless they were immediately sent into combat and immediately were killed they probably lived long enough into the next year for their family to be eligible for Social Security.

How much would a surviving spouse and child receive? Benefits depend on average lifetime earnings. The higher the earnings were, the higher their benefits would be. Using a 21 year old with earnings of about $24,000 a year the benefit should work out to about $800 monthly. Not a heck of a lot. Of course, an older worker with more lifetime earnings would be providing a more substantial benefit.

Summary

So if the spouse is to be destitute somehow the author is going to have to dispose of $500,000 along with the monthly payments that will occur.

From the above we can see that, even in the worst case, a surviving spouse with a child can expect to have $2200-2300 coming in monthly. Not a lot of money but it should pay the rent and put food on the table.

Some income could also be expected from the $500,000 lump sum. Even in a very conservative Municipal Bond fund 2-3% yearly returns are not unreasonable.

I hope this helps authors when they formulate their stories. As always I appreciate your submissions. Thanks for sharing.