If your spouse was a military retiree who died in the 1970s, before the Survivor Benefit Plan existed or before he had a real chance to enroll in it, you may be one of the so-called forgotten widows Congress finally took care of in 1997. The Annuity for Certain Military Surviving Spouses (ACMSS) pays $338.79 a month as of December 2025, which is about $4,065 a year, and it comes from DFAS, not VA. Many eligible surviving spouses, now in their 90s, have never heard of it, so this guide is as much for adult children and caregivers helping a surviving parent as it is for the spouses themselves.
What it is
ACMSS is a monthly annuity for surviving spouses of military retirees who died before they could elect survivor coverage. When a retiree dies, military retired pay stops. The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) exists to replace part of that income for the spouse, but SBP was not created until September 21, 1972. Before that, the only option was the Retired Serviceman's Family Protection Plan (RSFPP), an expensive elective program many retirees skipped. Retirees who died before SBP existed, or shortly after it launched, left their spouses with nothing, no retired pay and no survivor annuity. Those spouses became known as the forgotten widows.
Congress fixed this with Section 644 of Public Law 105-85, the defense authorization act signed in 1997, which created ACMSS effective December 1, 1997. The annuity started at $165 a month and has received the same annual cost of living adjustments as military retired pay ever since. Unlike SBP, which is based on a percentage of the member's retired pay, ACMSS is one flat rate. Every eligible surviving spouse receives the same amount regardless of the member's rank or years of service.
The program is run entirely by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). VA has nothing to do with this one, so do not look for it in a VA claims portal or expect a VA regional office to process it.
What it's worth
The current rate is $338.79 per month, effective December 1, 2025, after a 2.8 percent cost of living increase raised it from $329.56. That works out to $4,065.48 per year.
Here is the simple math for a surviving spouse who qualifies today:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Monthly ACMSS annuity (as of December 1, 2025) | $338.79 |
| Annual value | $4,065.48 |
| Value over 5 years, before future COLAs | $20,327.40 |
Because the annuity gets a COLA each year alongside military retired pay, the real 5 year figure will be higher than the table shows. For a widow on a fixed income, an extra $338.79 every month is groceries, utilities, or a meaningful share of prescription costs. And because the population this law covers is small and elderly, the money that goes unclaimed is money Congress specifically set aside for these exact families.
One thing we want to be direct about: ACMSS interacts with other federal survivor payments. If you receive SBP, an RSFPP annuity, or VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), ask DFAS how those payments affect ACMSS eligibility before you build this amount into a budget. The rules restricting receipt of other government survivor compensation are real, and DFAS can tell you exactly how they apply to your situation.
Who qualifies (and who doesn't)
Per the Congressional Research Service description of the statute, you may qualify if you are the surviving spouse of a member who died without survivor coverage in effect and who fits one of these two situations:
- The member became entitled to retired or retainer pay before September 21, 1972, was still entitled to it on the date of death, and died before March 21, 1974. This covers retirees who died before SBP existed or in its first months, before the initial enrollment window closed.
- The member died before October 1, 1978, and would have been entitled to reserve retired pay at the time of death except for being under age 60. This covers gray area Guard and Reserve retirees who earned a reserve retirement but died before reaching the age when it would have started.
The application form, DD Form 2769, also asks about the marriage itself, including when you married the member and whether you had children together. The form spells out the exact marriage criteria, so read its questions carefully and confirm anything unclear with DFAS before you conclude you are ineligible.
Who does not qualify: spouses of members who died on or after the cutoff dates above, spouses who were already covered by an SBP or RSFPP election the member made, and surviving spouses of members who never earned an active or reserve retirement. Remarriage can also affect eligibility, and the rules depend on when the remarriage happened, so if you remarried at any point, confirm your status with DFAS before assuming you are in or out.
Do the math on the dates and you will see why this benefit is fading quietly. A spouse widowed in 1974 has been waiting more than 50 years. Most eligible widows are now in their 90s. If your mother or grandmother lost a military retiree husband in this era and never received a survivor annuity, it is worth fifteen minutes to check.
How to claim it
- Download DD Form 2769, Application for Annuity for Certain Military Surviving Spouses. It is a short form.
- Gather the paper trail. The form asks about the member's service, his retired pay status, the marriage, and his death. Having the marriage certificate and death certificate on hand will make everything faster.
- Submit the completed form to DFAS following the instructions on the form itself. ACMSS is processed by DFAS Retired and Annuitant Pay, not by VA and not by the service branches.
- If you get stuck or want to confirm anything before mailing, call DFAS Retired and Annuitant Pay customer care at 800-321-1080, or start at the DFAS survivors page.
- Once approved, the annuity is paid monthly by direct deposit like other DFAS annuity payments.
If the surviving spouse is not able to handle the paperwork herself, an adult child or caregiver can help assemble it. A county Veteran service officer can also assist with DFAS paperwork at no charge.
Related benefits
A surviving spouse eligible for ACMSS should check these at the same time, because each has its own rules for how it combines with the others:
- DIC survivor benefits pays a separate VA monthly benefit if the Veteran's death was connected to service. It is worth far more than ACMSS, and by law ACMSS is reduced by the amount of DIC received, so check DIC first and ask DFAS how the two apply to you.
- Benefits for spouses, children, and parents walks through the full menu of dependent and survivor benefits most families miss.
- Aid and Attendance can add money on top of a VA Survivors Pension for a widow who needs help with daily living, which describes many women in the ACMSS age group.
What to do next
ACMSS is exactly the kind of benefit that gets lost: a small program, run by an agency nobody thinks to call, for a population that rarely goes looking. It is also one line item out of over 4,000 federal and state benefits we track. If you are a Veteran, a service member, or a surviving family member, run your free benefits scan at Benefitry and see every benefit you qualify for, what each is worth, and how to claim it, all backed by official .gov sources.