2018 US Code
Title 38 - Veterans' Benefits
Part IV - General Administrative Provisions
Chapter 61 - Penal and Forfeiture Provisions
Sec. 6107 - Reissuance of benefits

(a) Negligent Failure by Secretary.—(1) In any case in which the negligent failure of the Secretary to investigate or monitor a fiduciary results in misuse of benefits by the fiduciary, the Secretary shall pay to the beneficiary or the beneficiary's successor fiduciary an amount equal to the amount of benefits that were so misused.

(2) There shall be considered to have been a negligent failure by the Secretary to investigate and monitor a fiduciary in the following cases:

(b) Reissuance of Misused Benefits in Other Cases.—(1) In any case in which a fiduciary described in paragraph (2) 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) Paragraph (1) applies to a fiduciary that—

(3) In any other 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.

(c) Limitation on Total Amount Paid.—The total of the amounts paid to a beneficiary (or a beneficiary's successor fiduciary) under this section may not exceed the total benefit amount misused by the fiduciary with respect to that beneficiary.

(d) Recoupment of Amounts Reissued.—In any case in which the Secretary reissues a benefit payment (in whole or in part) under subsection (a) or (b), the Secretary shall make a good faith effort to obtain recoupment from the fiduciary to whom the payment was originally made.

(Added Pub. L. 108–454, title V, §503(a)(1), Dec. 10, 2004, 118 Stat. 3619.)

Section applicable with respect to any determinations by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs made after Dec. 10, 2004, of misuse of funds by a fiduciary, see section 507(b)(2) of Pub. L. 108–454, set out as an Effective Date of 2004 Amendment note under section 5312 of this title.