Madeline
Rookie
- Banned
- #1
Well, this is just wrong.
Veteran's widow told to repay $41,000 in benefits | The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, VA Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET
The government paid Freda Green $41,000 in 2003 when her 81-year- old husband died of an illness linked to his 34 years in the Air Force.
Green was nervous about cashing the check. Was it a mistake?
Military officials reassured her. The money was a benefit Uncle Sam paid the surviving spouses of veterans. It was hers forever.
Forever ended Nov. 13 when the Brooksville woman got another letter. This one didn't come with a check. The government wanted the $41,000 back - with interest. Why?
Green remarried.
At the heart of it all is a seemingly absurd detail involving remarriage.
Green, 74, is confused.
"I took the money and paid my bills," she said. "I paid $6,000 in taxes on it. Now I've got to give it back? I don't understand it at all."
She isn't alone. Veteran advocates say they are hearing complaints from baffled spouses around the nation.
"This is no way for the government to treat a military widow," said Lawrence Gorin, a lawyer in Oregon who advises military spouses.
For lawyers like Gorin, explaining the law is akin to teaching a course in quantum theory.
It gets complicated.
Veteran's widow told to repay $41,000 in benefits | The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, VA Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET