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.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Enrolled (Passed Congress)Mr. Connolly (for himself, Mr. Ciscomani, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Nunn …
Passed House (inferred from enr version)
Passed Senate (inferred from enr version)
Enrolled Bill (inferred from enr version)
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill requires the VA to automatically reimburse veterans when a fiduciary misuses their benefits, rather than requiring veterans to prove negligence. The VA must then try to recover the money from the fiduciary.
Who Benefits and How
- Veterans with fiduciaries are guaranteed repayment when benefits are misused
- Successor fiduciaries receive reimbursement when taking over for fraudulent predecessor
- Deceased veterans' estates are protected - heirs can receive repayment under section 5121
- Fraud prevention is strengthened by shifting burden from victim to VA
Who Bears the Burden and How
- VA must pay victims first, then pursue recoupment from fiduciaries
- Fraudulent fiduciaries face VA recoupment efforts
- VA budget bears upfront costs before recoupment
Key Provisions
- Mandates VA repayment of all misused benefits to veteran or successor fiduciary
- Requires VA "good faith effort" to recoup from fraudulent fiduciary
- Bars fraudulent fiduciaries from receiving any payment if veteran is deceased
- Promptly remits recouped amounts to beneficiary
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Requires VA to automatically repay veterans whose benefits were misused by a fiduciary, and pursue recoupment from the fiduciary.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Protect veterans from fiduciary fraud by guaranteeing repayment"
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Veterans Affairs
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology