C26/2005 VALIDITY OF CLAIMS FOR PENSION RECEIVED AT AN OFFICE OF THE DEPARTMENT IN AUSTRALIA AFTER THE DEATH OF THE VETERAN.

Purpose

To advise Claims Assessors of action to be taken on receipt of a claim from a veteran after he or she has died.

Introduction

1. Recently, the Department received a claim for pension after the claimant had died.  The claimant had completed the claim and forwarded it to the Department by post.  However, the claimant died after posting the claim, but before the Department received the claim. 
2. Previously such a claim was valid and would have to be processed in the usual way with the claim being denied on the basis that a grant of pension could not be made to a deceased veteran.  However, there has since been changes to the relevant provisions of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA).

Changes to the VEA

Amendments to sections 5T and 14(3) of the VEA were made by the Veterans' Entitlements Amendment (Electronic Lodgement) Act 2004 and came into effect on 26 November 2004.

Effectively, these amendments have closed the loophole whereby a claim received after the veteran's death could, in some circumstances, still be regarded as a valid claim.

The previous version of s 14(3) provided that a veteran could complete the process of making a claim merely by forwarding it to an office of the Department.  So that in the circumstances where a veteran posted a claim to the Department then died before the claim was received, the claim would have been a valid claim as the veteran had forwarded the claim to the Department.  The claim was then treated as having been made on the day upon which it was received in the Department.

The amendments to ss 5T and 14(3) of the VEA, when read in combination, now operate so that a veteran cannot complete the process of making a claim until the claim form has been received in the Department or at a place approved by the Commission.

Thus, a claim received in the Department after the death of the veteran who is the subject of that claim cannot be a valid claim for pension under the VEA.

The fact that a veteran has previously made an “informal claim” will be of no consequence since the informal claims procedure cannot be completed unless the veteran subsequently submits a valid claim.

Action

Any claims for pension completed by a veteran on or after 26 November 2004 and received by the Department after the death of a veteran will no longer be valid.

In the exceptional case that a claim for pension was completed by a veteran before 26 November 2004 and received by the Department after the death of a veteran should be forwarded to National Office for advice.