Navigating the benefits the spouse of a veteran can receive after their partner passes can be challenging.<\/p>\n
Fitzpatrick Seraphin, a Veteran Service Manager for Hillsborough County Veteran Community Services, said many spouses of veterans are unsure what steps to take after a loved one dies. He said about 60% of the spouses who come to see him do not know what they may qualify for.<\/p>\n
Seraphin said financial assistance is one of the most common topics he discusses with spouses, especially older spouses who may need additional support at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about the elderly spouses of those veterans, a lot of times they need aid at home,\u201d Seraphin said.<\/p>\n
Bach Pent said a life in the United States was not part of her plan while she was growing up in Vietnam. That changed after she met Joseph, a U.S. military member who later became her husband.<\/p>\n
Pent and Joseph married and had a daughter in Florida. They spent more than 40 years together before Joseph died in 2014.<\/p>\n
Pent said she felt isolated after his death, with her daughter living in California.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has a family, and I live in Brandon,\u201d Pent said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to bother her because she was really sad he passed away. So am I. We were both separate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seraphin said what a spouse may qualify for can vary based on several factors, including the veteran\u2019s service dates and condition. Seraphin said any spouse of a veteran should speak with a veterans service officer to learn what benefits may be available.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hear the stories all the time,\u201d Seraphin said. \u201cI\u2019ve waited 20, 40 years before I submitted this claim, not knowing that I qualified this whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pent said that after Joseph died, she began receiving $1,000 a month from the VA. She said the money helped her move forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat money helped me a lot because at that time I said, if you want to live, you have to do something,\u201d Pent said.<\/p>\n
Seraphin said not everyone who meets with a veterans service officer will qualify for benefits, but he encourages spouses to check, no matter how many years have passed since their partner died.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Navigating the benefits the spouse of a veteran can receive after their partner passes can be challenging. Fitzpatrick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[274,4628,115,135,137,136,278,835],"class_list":["post-347908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-app-top-stories","tag-matt-lackritz","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}