[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3123 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                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

                             April 30, 2025

  Ms. Stefanik (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 Affairs that are affected by death, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans 
Benefits Act''.

SEC. 2. PAYMENT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF PENSION AFTER DEATH 
              OF A VETERAN IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 51 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting, after section 5121A, the following new section:
``Sec. 5121B. Payment of pension after death of a veteran in certain 
              circumstances
    ``(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), if the Secretary 
issues a decision awarding entitlement to a pension to a veteran before 
the death of such veteran, and the Secretary issues payment of such 
pension after the veteran dies, such pension that was due and unpaid at 
the time of the veteran's death shall be paid to the first living 
person or entity listed below:
            ``(1) The veteran's spouse.
            ``(2) The veteran's children (in equal shares).
            ``(3) The veteran's dependent parents (in equal shares).
            ``(4) The estate of the deceased veteran unless the estate 
        will escheat.
    ``(b) Limitation.--In a case described in subsection (a), if no 
application is filed under section 5121 of this title during the one-
year period following the death of the veteran, the pension described 
in such subsection shall be paid to the estate of the deceased veteran 
unless the estate will escheat.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Conforming amendment.--Section 5121(a) of such title is 
        amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting 
        ``section 5121B of this title, or'' before ``sections 3329 and 
        3330''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting, after the 
        item relating to section 5121A, the following new item:

``5121B. Payment of pension after death of a veteran in certain 
                            circumstances.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to the death of a veteran that occurs on or after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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