Dependency and Indemnity Compensation        Eligibility: For a survivor to be eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), the veteran’s death must have resulted from one of the following causes:            1.  A disease or injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty while on active duty or active duty for training.          2.  An injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty while on inactive duty training.           3.  A service-connected disability or a condition directly related to a service-connected disability.          DIC also may be paid to survivors of veterans who were totally disabled from service-connected conditions at the time of death, even though their service-connected disabilities did not cause their deaths.       The survivor qualifies if the veteran was:          1. Continuously rated totally disabled for a period of 10 years immediately preceding death.          2.  Continuously rated totally disabled from the date of military discharge and for at least 5 years immediately preceding death.          3.  Or a former POW who died after Sept. 30, 1999, and who was continuously rated totally disabled for a period of at least one year immediately preceding death.            Payments will be offset by any amount received from judicial proceedings brought on by the veteran’s death. The discharge must have been under conditions other than dishonorable.          Payments for Deaths After Jan. 1, 1993:  Surviving spouses of veterans who died on or after Jan. 1, 1993, receive a basic rate, plus additional payments for dependent children, for the aid and attendance of another person if they are patients in a nursing home or require the regular assistance of another person, or if they are permanently housebound. [ Check Indemnity Rates ]