Title 38

SECTION 3.256

3.256 Eligibility reporting requirements.

§ 3.256 Eligibility reporting requirements.

(a) Obligation to report changes in factors affecting entitlement. Any individual who has applied for or receives pension or parents' dependency and indemnity compensation must promptly notify the Secretary of any change affecting entitlement in any of the following:

(1) Income;

(2) Net worth or corpus of estate;

(3) Marital status;

(4) Nursing home patient status;

(5) School enrollment status of a child 18 years of age or older; or

(6) Any other factor that affects entitlement to benefits under the provisions of this part.

(b) Eligibility verification reports. (1) For purposes of this section the term eligibility verification report means a form prescribed by the Secretary that is used to request income, net worth (if applicable), dependency status, and any other information necessary to determine or verify entitlement to pension or parents' dependency and indemnity compensation.

(2) VA will not require old law or section 306 pensioners to submit eligibility verification reports unless the Secretary determines that doing so is necessary to preserve program integrity.

(3) Except for a parent who has attained 72 years of age and has been paid dependency and indemnity compensation during two consecutive calendar years, the Secretary shall require an eligibility verification report from individuals receiving parents' dependency and indemnity compensation under the following circumstances:

(i) If the Social Security Administration has not verified the beneficiary's Social Security number and, if the beneficiary is married, his or her spouse's Social Security number.

(ii) If there is reason to believe that the beneficiary or, if the spouse's income could affect entitlement, his or her spouse may have received income other than Social Security during the current or previous calendar year; or

(iii) If the Secretary determines that an eligibility verification report is necessary to preserve program integrity.

(4) An individual who applies for or receives pension or parents' dependency and indemnity compensation as defined in §§ 3.3 or 3.5 of this part shall, as a condition of receipt or continued receipt of benefits, furnish the Department of Veterans Affairs an eligibility verification report upon request.

(c) If VA requests that a claimant or beneficiary submit an eligibility verification report but he or she fails to do so within 60 days of the date of the VA request, the Secretary shall suspend the award or disallow the claim.

(Authority: Sec. 306(a)(2) and (b)(3), Pub. L. 95-588, 92 Stat. 2508-2509; 38 U.S.C. 1315(e)) (The Office of Management and Budget has approved the information collection requirements in this section under control numbers 2900-0101 and 2900-0624) [63 FR 53595, Oct. 6, 1998, as amended at 66 FR 56614, Nov. 9, 2001; 73 FR 40466, July 15, 2008]

---