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Veterans’ Surviving Spouse Equity Act of 2025
To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for certain benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans rated totally disabled at death to certain surviving spouses.
Summary
This bill expands the definition of "surviving spouse" for certain Veterans Affairs benefits for survivors of veterans rated totally disabled at death. It allows surviving spouses to qualify for benefits if they were married to the veteran for at least one year immediately preceding death, or if they lived with the veteran in the same household for at least one year and presented themselves to the public as the veteran's spouse during that period. The change applies regardless of whether the veteran or surviving spouse entered into another legal or religious marriage during the cohabitation period. The bill amends the existing eligibility criteria in the VA benefits code to add this expanded definition of surviving spouse. This provision would allow individuals in long-term domestic partnerships with veterans to receive certain survivor benefits previously limited to legally married spouses.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Julia Brownley’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $9,600
- HAAS AUTOMATION $9,100
- SPARAGNA & SPARAGNA $6,600
- HACKMAN CAPITAL $6,600
- UNITED STAFFING ASSOCIATES $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Julia Brownley → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Dec 19, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. · house
- Jul 23, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. · house
- Jul 23, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 23, 2025
Ms. Brownley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for certain benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans rated totally disabled at death to certain surviving spouses.
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 “Veterans’ Surviving Spouse Equity Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN BENEFITS UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR SURVIVORS OF CERTAIN VETERANS RATED TOTALLY DISABLED AT TIME OF DEATH.
Subsection (c) of section 1318 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking (or);
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(3) the surviving spouse—
“(A) was married to the veteran for a period of one year or more immediately preceding the veteran’s death; or
“(B) lived with the veteran in the same household for at least one year immediately preceding the veteran’s death and held themselves to the public as the spouse of the veteran during such period, regardless of whether the veteran or the surviving spouse entered into another legal or religious marriage during such period.”. <all>
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