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This law makes it easier for veterans and their families to get back VA benefits that were wrongly spent by a fiduciary. If a person chosen to manage a veteran’s benefits misuses those funds, the Department of Veterans Affairs must repay the lost amount to the beneficiary or, if needed, to a successor fiduciary. The VA must also try to recover the money from the fiduciary who misused it. The law also sets rules for what happens if the beneficiary has died, and it gives the VA a way to review whether the misuse happened because of VA negligence without slowing down repayment.
- If a fiduciary misuses all or part of a veteran’s VA benefit payment, the VA must reissue that misused amount to the beneficiary or to a successor fiduciary.
- The VA must make a good-faith effort to get the money back from the fiduciary who misused it, and if the VA later recovers any of that money, it must send it to the beneficiary or successor fiduciary if it has not already been paid.
- If the beneficiary dies before the payment is made, the money must be paid according to existing rules for unpaid benefits, but not to the fiduciary who caused the misuse.
- The total amount paid under this law cannot be more than the amount that was actually misused, and the VA must set up a process to decide whether the misuse was caused by VA negligence without delaying repayment.
Official Summaries
Veteran Fraud Reimbursement Act of 2025
This bill modifies the procedures by which the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reissues misused benefits to a beneficiary, including by requiring the VA to establish methods and timing with respect to determining whether an instance of misuse by a fiduciary is the result of negligence by the VA. The bill also provides that if a beneficiary predeceases a reissuance, the VA must pay the amount to a surviving beneficiary in the same method as certain other VA benefits are paid upon the death of a beneficiary.
Under the bill, the VA may not withhold the reissuing of a benefit payment by reason of a pending determination regarding the VA's negligence in relation to the instance of misuse by a fiduciary. Additionally, the VA is not required to make a determination regarding its negligence for each instance of misuse by a fiduciary of all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such fiduciary.
Veteran Fraud Reimbursement Act of 2025
This act modifies the procedures by which the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reissues misused benefits to a beneficiary, including by requiring the VA to establish methods and timing with respect to determining whether an instance of misuse by a fiduciary is the result of negligence by the VA. The act also provides that if a beneficiary predeceases a reissuance, the VA must pay the amount to a surviving beneficiary in the same method as certain other VA benefits are paid upon the death of a beneficiary.
Under the act, the VA may not withhold the reissuing of a benefit payment by reason of a pending determination regarding the VA's negligence in relation to the instance of misuse by a fiduciary. Additionally, the VA is not required to make a determination regarding its negligence for each instance of misuse by a fiduciary of all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such fiduciary.
Current Full Text
[119th Congress Public Law 56]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[[Page 139 STAT. 709]]
Public Law 119-56
119th Congress
An Act
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the repayment by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs of benefits misused by a fiduciary, and
for other purposes. <<NOTE: Dec. 12, 2025 - [H.R. 1912]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Veteran Fraud
Reimbursement Act of 2025.>>
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 38 USC 101 note.>> SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Veteran Fraud Reimbursement Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT TO REPAYMENT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
OF CERTAIN MISUSED BENEFITS.
Section 6107 of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as
follows:
``Sec. 6107. Reissuance of benefits
``(a) Reissuance of Misused Benefits.--(1) In any case in which a
fiduciary misuses all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such
fiduciary, the Secretary shall pay to the beneficiary or the
beneficiary's successor fiduciary an amount equal to the amount of such
benefit so misused.
``(2) In any case in which the Secretary reissues a benefit payment
(in whole or in part) under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make a
good faith effort to obtain recoupment from the fiduciary to whom the
payment was originally made.
``(3) <<NOTE: Remittance.>> In any case in which the Secretary
obtains recoupment from a fiduciary who has misused benefits, the
Secretary shall promptly remit payment of the recouped amounts to the
beneficiary or the beneficiary's successor fiduciary, as the case may
be, to the extent that such amounts have not been paid under paragraph
(1).
``(b) Reissuance of Amounts in the Case of a Deceased Beneficiary.--
(1) If a beneficiary described in subsection (a)(1) predeceases a
payment under such subsection, the Secretary shall pay such amount,
subject to paragraph (2), to an individual or entity in accordance with
section 5121 of this title.
``(2) The Secretary may not make a payment under this subsection to
a fiduciary who misused benefits of the beneficiary.
``(c) Limitation on Total Amount Paid.--The total of the amounts
paid to a beneficiary or the beneficiary's successor fiduciary under
this section may not exceed the total benefit amount misused by the
fiduciary with respect to that beneficiary.
``(d) <<NOTE: Determination.>> Oversight of Negligence.--(1) The
Secretary shall establish methods and timing with respect to determining
whether an instance of misuse by a fiduciary, of all or part of an
individual's
[[Page 139 STAT. 710]]
benefit paid to such fiduciary, is the result of negligence by the
Secretary.
``(2) The Secretary may not withhold the reissuing of a benefit
payment under subsection (a)(1) by reason of a pending determination
under paragraph (1).
``(3) The Secretary is not required to make a determination under
paragraph (1) for each instance of misuse by a fiduciary, of all or part
of an individual's benefit paid to such fiduciary.''.
Approved December 12, 2025.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 1912:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 171 (2025):
May 5, considered and passed House.
Nov. 20, considered and passed Senate.
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