Glitch robs many of veteran checks

Surviving spouses of war veterans have been wrongfully denied up to millions of dollars in government benefits over the last 12 years because of computer glitches that often resulted in money being seized from the elderly survivors’ bank accounts.

The Veterans Affairs Department pledged to work quickly to return the pension and disability checks -- ranging from $100 to more than $2,500 -- that hundreds of thousands of widows and widowers should have received during the month of their spouses’ deaths.

Congress passed a law in 1996 giving veterans’ spouses the right to keep their partners’ final month of benefits. But the VA never updated its computer systems.