The Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefit paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs to survivors of certain deceased veterans will be increasing by 2.5% for 2025.
What Is DIC?
DIC is a monthly benefit paid to eligible survivors of certain deceased veterans. There are two main types, one for surviving spouses and one for surviving parents.
The surviving spouse DIC is a congressionally mandated monthly benefit which is adjusted annually based on the cost of living.
Under most circumstances, a surviving spouse under 57 years old who remarries cannot receive DIC. Spouses, however, are eligible for increased benefits if they have children under 18 or if they have a disability themselves that requires living assistance.
Parent DIC is based on the parent's income. Typically, only those parents whose income is below a certain level are eligible.
How Much Is DIC?
The basic monthly tax-free DIC benefit will increase from $1,612.75 for 2024 to a projected $1,653.07, with additional amounts also seeing the 2.5% increase. The Social Security Administration announced the 2.5% raise Oct. 10, 2024. The Department of Veterans Affairs will release the official DIC rates later.
Phaseout of Widows Tax
In 2023, affected surviving spouses who received DIC and Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) payments from the deceased veteran's military service no longer saw their SBP payments decreased by the monthly DIC amount. This was due to the completed phaseout of the so called "widows tax".
Related: The Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) Program
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