H.R. 2055 — Caring for Survivors Act of 2025

This section revises the base monthly rate of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) payable to a surviving spouse to 55% of the monthly compensation rate payable to veterans under 38 U.S.C. 1114(j) (from $1,154). (DIC provides tax-free monthly payments to eligible survivors of veterans whose death resulted from a service-connected cause or who were totally disabled from service-connected conditions at death.) The amendment applies to DIC payments for months beginning six months after enactment. For surviving spouses eligible for DIC predicated on a veteran's death before January 1, 1993, the monthly amount is the greater of (i) the amount under prior subsection 1311(a)(3)—based on the veteran's pay grade—or (ii) the amount under new subsection 1311(a)(1).

This section modifies eligibility for dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) for surviving spouses and children of veterans who die—not due to willful misconduct—with a service-connected disability rated totally disabling at death (i.e., DIC paid as if death were service-connected). Specifically, it (1) reduces the required period of continuous total disability rating immediately preceding death to five or more years (from 10 or more years); and (2) requires proration of the DIC amount if that period is less than 10 years, proportional to the duration of the period relative to 10 years (e.g., 7 years of rating yields 70% of full DIC).