Larry, my mother is 84 and I have just begun seeing all her finances. I discovered she never recieved any money from my vetran father, pension, retirement, etc. My father served over 20 years, spent nearly 6 years on foreign soil, Kore and 2 tours in Viet Nam. He retired as a Major and unfortunately he came home with many psychological issues. He did try the VA hospital and was on suicide watch. They sent him homw and not to long after he committed suicide. Where would all of his retirement have gone? I have tried so many avenues and conflictng info. Hope so much you can help.

Hi. I only know about Social Security benefits, so you'd need to contact the Veteran's Administration to find out if your mother might qualify for VA survivor benefits. As for Social Security, it sounds like your father probably had enough work credits to be insured for Social Security benefits based on his military service alone. That means that your mother might be eligible for widow's benefits from Social Security. But, if she's already collecting Social Security retirement benefits based on her own earnings history then she could only be paid additional widow's benefits if her widow's rate is higher than own benefit rate.

In order to receive Social Security widow's benefits, your mother would need to apply for them. She should be able to find out if she may qualify for benefits by calling Social Security, but even if they say she's not eligible she can still file an application in order to get a formal determination of her eligibility.

Best, Jerry