I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 3123
To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements to
laws relating to the payment of certain benefits administered by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs that are affected by death, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL30, 2025
Ms. S
TEFANIK(for herself and Mr. KHANNA) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain
improvements to laws relating to the payment of certain
benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs that are affected by death, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ernest Peltz Accrued 4
Veterans Benefits Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. PAYMENT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 1
OF PENSION AFTER DEATH OF A VETERAN IN 2
CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Chapter 51 of title 38, United 4
States Code, is amended by inserting, after section 5121A, 5
the following new section: 6
‘‘§ 5121B. Payment of pension after death of a veteran 7
in certain circumstances 8
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), if the 9
Secretary issues a decision awarding entitlement to a pen-10
sion to a veteran before the death of such veteran, and 11
the Secretary issues payment of such pension after the 12
veteran dies, such pension that was due and unpaid at 13
the time of the veteran’s death shall be paid to the first 14
living person or entity listed below: 15
‘‘(1) The veteran’s spouse. 16
‘‘(2) The veteran’s children (in equal shares). 17
‘‘(3) The veteran’s dependent parents (in equal 18
shares). 19
‘‘(4) The estate of the deceased veteran unless 20
the estate will escheat. 21
‘‘(b) L
IMITATION.—In a case described in subsection 22
(a), if no application is filed under section 5121 of this 23
title during the one-year period following the death of the 24
veteran, the pension described in such subsection shall be 25
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paid to the estate of the deceased veteran unless the estate 1
will escheat.’’. 2
(b) T
ECHNICAL ANDCONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 3
(1) C
ONFORMING AMENDMENT .—Section 4
5121(a) of such title is amended, in the matter pre-5
ceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘section 5121B 6
of this title, or’’ before ‘‘sections 3329 and 3330’’. 7
(2) C
LERICAL AMENDMENT .—The table of sec-8
tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 9
by inserting, after the item relating to section 10
5121A, the following new item: 11
‘‘5121B. Payment of pension after death of a veteran in certain circumstances.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 12
this section shall apply with respect to the death of a vet-13
eran that occurs on or after the date of the enactment 14
of this Act. 15
Æ
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