Warning: The
DFAS SBP (Survivor Benefit Plan) is
not an automatic and reliable benefit
for the disabled. After the death of the
veteran, DFAS requires all disabled beneficiaries to go through an
application process and benefits can be denied even if the
policy is appearantly in good standing.
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DFAS requires the disabled benefeciary to be unmarried. If married SBP benefits are denied.
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The rules as presented to the public indicate that marriage does disqualify disabled beneficiaries, but in fact it does.
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DFAS requires that the disabled beneficiary medically certify that they are still disabled as of the the time the veteran passed, if this recertification is failed, SBB benefits are denied.
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DFAS requires that the disabled beneficiary medically certify/proove that the whatever disability they have at the time that the veteran died is the same disability that was used to qualify them for the program in the first place.
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DFAS provides no way for veterans to check to see if their disabled beneficiary is still eligable for benefits while they (the veteran) is still alive.
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Veterans who inquire are told "as long as the person was accepted into the program and you keep making payments the person remains eligible". But as we have seen that is not the case.
We have created this GoFundMe effort to ...educate, reach out and help....blah
Most veterans are unaware of the high hurdles that DFAS will place in front disabled people prior to approving the SBP benefit that was paid for by the veteran. These hurdles can be impossible tasks for a the cognitively impaired. Most Veterans paying for disabled beneficiaries think that the DFAS SBP (Survivor Benefit Plan) is a "solid" and "automatic" way to protect them. Unfortunately that is not the case. Most veterans think that if their disabled beneficiary has been accepted into the program the benefit will be essentially automatic - provided that have made their required monthly payments of course.
Unfortunately it does not work that way.
Many veterans think that SBP payments to disabled beneficiaries will begin quickly after DFAS is given a death certificate.
Unfortunately it does not work that way - the process of approval takes months regardless of the outcome.
Carefull and throrough planning (for what amounts to a second application process) must be done while the veteran is alive or the disabled beneficiary is in danger of being denied.
Our GoFundMe effort is....to educate, and to help those who were denied.
Most veterans who purchase these policies and pay (perhaps over decades) have no idea of what the disabled beneficiary will be facing after the veteran has died.
Our GoFundMe effort is designed to educate veterans on the reality of this program and to provide some assistance to disabled persons who were denied SBP benefits.
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