Military widows to get their day in court

No other government job has this unfair offset of benefits. Any widow from a government job, receives both benefits. It is ONLY the military widow who has this unfair offset and it is called the WIDOWS TAX.

Explanation of DIC & SBP
http://www.military.com/benefits/survivor-benefits/dependency-and-indemnity-compensation

More stories here: http://www.therealmartha.com/SoldiersWidows/index.htm

and http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502E6DB153EF93AA2575BC0A9609C8B63

Reprint from MOAA.org Legislative update
Military Widows Take On Uncle Sam
Next Wednesday, January 30, a group of military widows will get their day in federal court, pressing their case that a December 2004 law change should have awarded them full payment of military SBP annuities in addition to the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) they receive from the VA because military service caused their husbands' deaths.

At the time, the House Veterans Affairs Committee believed its language would not only restore DIC benefits to previously eligible survivors who remarried after age 57, but would also end the deduction of DIC from SBP annuities.Subsequent government legal review indicated the 2004 law didn't, in fact, make the latter change, but the difference of opinion hasn't entirely gone away.

And now three widows are taking the government to court.When the case was filed in September, the Department of Defense responded with a motion to dismiss the case. The widows' lawyers filed a rebuttal, and now there will be a hearing before the US Court of Federal Claims, 717 Madison Street, NW in Washington, DC so the judge can make a decision on the DoD motion to dismiss.

The oral arguments in the case will be open to the public at 9:30 am. A specific court room won't be assigned until the morning of the 30th.Past efforts to sue the government in this way have rarely been fruitful, but one never knows how the courts might rule when legislative language is murky. MOAA would like nothing better than to see a favorable court ruling in this case and end the unfair offset experienced by SBP/DIC widows.

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