Jim,
I have a question that needs to be answered correctly, which I'm sure you will. If a veteran has been on 100% total disability compensation for 9.5 years (service connected) and he passed (not necessarily from the service-connected disability) before the ten years is up, would his wife be entitled to any compensation at all?
I look forward to your response.
Reply:
There are generally 2 ways a veterans leaves DIC to the surviving spouse.
If the veteran is rated at 100% and dies from a service connected condition at any time, the survivor is eligible to apply for DIC.
If the veteran is rated at 100% Permanent and Total for over 10 years (not 9 1/2) the surviving spouse is eligible for DIC...no matter what caused the death.
Otherwise, there is no other common path to any compensation from VA. If a survivor ever questions eligibility, I always recommend that the survivor proceed to apply for the DIC benefit. The process of adjudicating that claim will sort out eligibility issues.