Military widow asked to repay $41,000 in benefits after remarriage, gov't garnishes her checks

[Amerigo Vespucci]

VIDEO @ the URL below.

Military widows asked to repay benefits after remarriage
By Rich Phillips, CNN
January 15, 2011 4:27 a.m. EST

Brooksville, Florida (CNN) -- Freda Green thought the battle was over when her husband returned from the Vietnam War.

But more than seven years after his death in 2003, she says the U.S. Defense Department is demanding she repay more than $41,000 in benefits the government shelled out as part of an insurance policy he paid into.

"They gave me 45 days to pay it back," said Green, 74, who claims the federal government began garnishing her benefit payments when she couldn't pay it all back at once.

Green says $577 is now being deducted from her military benefit check each month. The reason: She got remarried last year.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/15/florida.military.widow/index.html?hpt=C2

[drm604]

1. It isn't clear to me why she has to repay the money.

Obviously it's not some sort of punishment for getting married, so why does she have to give it back? Obviously it's some technicality but it wasn't clear to me from reading the article.

[NNN0LHI]

4. It gets complicated.

Any explanation starts with the Survivor Benefit Plan, an insurance program offered by the military that pays a monthly benefit based on a veteran's retirement pay. It was meant to provide financial security to surviving children or spouses.

If the veteran's death was related to service, then the spouse also became eligible for a benefit from the Department of Veterans Affairs called the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation program.

But there was a catch.

The spouse couldn't fully collect both benefits at the same time. The government deducted the monthly Dependency and Indemnity Compensation benefit from the monthly Survivor Benefit Plan check survivors were getting.

The net loss for spouses was $1,154 every month.

But Uncle Sam then refunded a portion of the premiums paid into the Survivor Benefit Plan through the years. That's why Green got a $41,000 check.

But a walk down the aisle changes all that.

more here: http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/article1143324.ece

[Little Star]

2. This is just wrong. n/t

[kcks]

3. There is

something missing from this, when did she remarry, did she surrender her ID card or continue using it. I gather he spent at least 20 years on active duty and she was collecting survivor's pay, which I turned done because it was a bad deal. So she may be just caught in a no win position, because they did understand what they signing up to at the end of his career.

[remember2000forever]

5. If My Vereran Husband Dies and I Get Remarried

I lose all healthcare and Pension Benifits. Sounds like she didn't report the new marriage.

[EC]

6. Many Surviving Spouse payments

are for widows, so if you remarry, you are no longer a widow. Some do still pay if you marry after 62 years of age. Social Security is the same with their surviving spouse program.