Family and Survivor

Provided below is information and links regarding benefits and services potentially available to you. We strongly recommend, if you are considering requesting services or submitting an application to the VA, that you contact your County Veterans Service Office. Their Service Officers specialize in assisting veterans and their family members with claims, applications, and appeals to the VA.

Please visit our County Veterans Service Offices web page to obtain your County Veterans Service Office's contact information.

Office of Survivors Assistance

The Office of Survivors Assistance was established by Public Law 110-389, Title II, Section 222, in October 2008, to serve as a resource regarding all benefits and services furnished by the Department to Survivors and Dependents of deceased Veterans and members of the Armed Forces. OSA also serves as a principal advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and promotes the use of VA benefits, programs and services to survivors.

For all official documents and information regarding survivors benefits and services please visit the VA Office of Survivors Assistance web page.

Application Forms and Information

Benefits

Services

Funeral Resources

Please visit the VA National Cemetery Administration web page learn more about:

Eligibility
Burial
Burial Flags
Military Funeral Honors
Headstones, Grave Markers, and Medallions
Presidential Memorial Certificates
Monetary Benefits or Reimbursement
Disinterment

Bereavement Counseling

Bereavement counseling is assistance and support to people with emotional and psychological stress after the death of a loved one. Bereavement counseling includes a broad range of transition services, including outreach, counseling, and referral services to family members.

Please visit the VA Vet Centers (Readjustment Counseling) web page to learn more.

Survivor Hiring Preference

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management operates a Veterans Employment Website FedsHireVets.gov. Please visit their Job Seekers - Family Members web page for information and resources.

Outreach

This video will introduce you to some of the many surviving families working with the Department of Veterans Affairs, share their stories and provide information about several of the benefits offered by the VA. It was developed in collaboration with the VA's Office of Survivors Assistance, and Office of Strategic Communications, along with the Veterans Health Administration's Employees Education Services, and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS).

Contact

To contact the Office of Survivors Assistance please call 1-800-827-1000 or visit their Contact Us web page.

Survivor Outreach Services

Survivor Outreach Services (SOS) is an Army program where services are provided through each component, Active Duty, National Guard and the Army Reserve, based on assigned counties within designated state and territories. The Army Reserve assigned counties and territories coverage services have been supported through an Army Reserve contract. The Army Reserve has regionalized Family Programs to include the SOS program. The Readiness Divisions (99th, 81st, 88th and 63rd) and the 9th Mission Support Command will provide Survivor Outreach Services utilizing government personnel assigned to each of the seventeen (17) assigned coverage areas starting on 31 August 2019. This includes service to surviving Family members of Active Duty, National Guard Man Day (M-Day), and USAR Troop Program Unit (TPU) Soldiers, and referral support to surviving Family members of veterans and retirees.

Please visit the Army Reserve Family Programs - Survivor Outreach Services web page to learn more.