A recent rule change from the Department of Veterans Affairs is designed to address a narrow but consequential inefficiency in how survivor benefits are processed. Effective February 23 , the VA now allows eligible survivors to receive whichever benefit, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) or Survivors Pension, yields the higher payment without requiring both claims to be fully adjudicated first. According to  Michael Hoffman , a partner at Werner, Hoffman, Greig & Garcia who regularly