republic-os/legal/us/code/title-38/chapter-1/section-102.md

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LegalText	38 U.S.C. § 102	Dependent parents	us	united_states_code	code_section	38	VETERANS’ BENEFITS	1	GENERAL	102	38 U.S.C. § 102	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc38@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t38/s102	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-38/usc38.xml	2f841b123810f8339e9a2812d31a26ded9f61abea647152fbc0fae8ff17e20a0	372998691b72ade88787dfa7633dbda4954bd1b037ec7926c5e06e9b1d17fc66	0aa2e1c0d0d829814784fb108106dea1bc51ba7e5c2eb665f218d916e12c451d	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

38 U.S.C. § 102 - Dependent parents

Text

(a) Dependency of a parent, which may arise before or after the death of a veteran, shall be determined in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary.

(b) Dependency of a parent shall not be denied (1) solely because of remarriage, or (2) in any case in any State where the monthly income for a mother or father does not exceed minimum levels which the Secretary shall prescribe by regulation, giving due regard to the marital status of the mother or father and additional members of the family whom the mother or father is under a moral or legal obligation to support.

(c) For the purposes of this section, in determining monthly income the Secretary shall not consider any payments under laws administered by the Secretary because of disability or death or payments of bonus or similar cash gratuity by any State based upon service in the Armed Forces.

(Pub. L. 85–857, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1109; Pub. L. 89–358, § 4(e), (f), Mar. 3, 1966, 80 Stat. 24; Pub. L. 92–540, title IV, § 408, Oct. 24, 1972, 86 Stat. 1092; Pub. L. 94–432, title IV, § 402, Sept. 30, 1976, 90 Stat. 1372; Pub. L. 99–576, title VII, § 701(1), Oct. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 3289; Pub. L. 102–54, § 14(a)(2), June 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 282; Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(a)(1), (b)(1), (2)(E), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 403–405.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments1991—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted “Secretary” for “Administrator”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted “Secretary shall” for “Administrator shall”. Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(a)(1), substituted “administered by the Secretary” for “administered by the Veterans’ Administration”. Pub. L. 102–54 substituted “(c)” for “(C)” as subsec. designation. 1986—Pub. L. 99–576, § 701(1)(B), substituted “Dependent parents” for “Dependent parents; husbands” in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–576, § 701(1)(A)(ii), (iii), (v), struck out par. (1) designation and redesignated par. (2) of subsec. (a) as subsec. (b) and par. (3) of subsec. (a) as subsec. (C). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–576, § 701(1)(A)(i), (iii), (iv), redesignated former subsec. (a)(2) as subsec. (b) and substituted “(1)” and “(2)” for “(A)” and “(B)”, respectively. Former subsec. (b), which read “For the purposes of this title, (1) the term ‘wife’ includes the husband of any female veteran; and (2) the term ‘widow’ includes the widower of any female veteran”, was struck out. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–576, § 701(1)(A)(v), redesignated former subsec. (a)(3) as subsec. (C) and substituted “For the purposes of this section,” for “For the purposes of this subsection”. 1976—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 94–432 substituted prohibition against denial of dependency of a parent “(B) in any case in any State where the monthly income for a mother or father does not exceed minimum levels which the Administrator shall prescribe by regulation, giving due regard to the marital status of the mother or father and additional members of the family whom the mother or father is under a moral or legal obligation to support” for such prohibition “(B) in any case in any State where the monthly income for a mother or father, not living together, is not more than $105, or where the monthly income for a mother and father living together, is not more than $175, plus, in either case, $45, for each additional member of the family whom the father or mother is under a moral or legal obligation to support, as determined by the Administrator”. 1972—Pub. L. 92–540, § 408(2), substituted “Dependent parents; husbands” for “Dependent parents and dependent husbands” in section catchline. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 92–540, § 408(1), struck out exception which made definition of terms inapplicable to chapter 19 of this title and struck out from definitions of “wife” and “widow” provisions relating to the ability of such persons to maintain and support themselves. 1966—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 89–358, § 4(e), substituted “Dependency” for “Except for the purposes of chapter 33 of this title, dependency”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 89–358, § 4(f), struck out from introductory parenthetical phrase reference to chapter 33 of this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1976 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 94–432 effective Sept. 30, 1976, see section 405(a) of Pub. L. 94–432, set out as a note under section 1521 of this title.