View all text of Subchapter I [§ 4211 - § 4220]
§ 4215. Restitution
(a) Location and payment of eligible individuals
(1) In general
(2) Location of eligible individuals
(3) Benefit of the doubt
(4) Notice from the Attorney GeneralThe Attorney General shall, when funds are appropriated to the Fund for payments to an eligible individual under this section, notify that eligible individual in writing of his or her eligibility for payment under this section. Such notice shall inform the eligible individual that—
(A) acceptance of payment under this section shall be in full satisfaction of all claims against the United States arising out of acts described in section 4218(2)(B) of this title, and
(B) each eligible individual who does not refuse, in the manner described in paragraph (5), to accept payment under this section within 18 months after receiving such written notice shall be deemed to have accepted payment for purposes of paragraph (6).
(5) Effect of refusal to accept payment
(6) Payment in full settlement of claims against the United States
(7) Exclusion of certain individuals
(8) Payments in the case of deceased persons
(A) In the case of an eligible individual who is deceased at the time of payment under this section, such payment shall be made only as follows:
(i) If the eligible individual is survived by a spouse who is living at the time of payment, such payment shall be made to such surviving spouse.
(ii) If there is no surviving spouse described in clause (i), such payment shall be made in equal shares to all children of the eligible individual who are living at the time of payment.
(iii) If there is no surviving spouse described in clause (i) and if there are no children described in clause (ii), such payment shall be made in equal shares to the parents of the eligible individual who are living at the time of payment.
If there is no surviving spouse, children, or parents described in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), the amount of such payment shall remain in the Fund, and may be used only for the purposes set forth in section 4216(b) of this title.
(B) After the death of an eligible individual, this subsection and subsections (c) and (f) shall apply to the individual or individuals specified in subparagraph (A) to whom payment under this section will be made, to the same extent as such subsections apply to the eligible individual.
(C) For purposes of this paragraph—
(i) the “spouse” of an eligible individual means a wife or husband of an eligible individual who was married to that eligible individual for at least 1 year immediately before the death of the eligible individual;
(ii) a “child” of an eligible individual includes a recognized natural child, a stepchild who lived with the eligible individual in a regular parent-child relationship, and an adopted child; and
(iii) a “parent” of an eligible individual includes fathers and mothers through adoption.
(b) Order of payments
(c) Resources for locating eligible individuals
(d) Administrative costs not paid from the Fund
(e) Termination of duties of Attorney General
(f) Clarification of treatment of payments under other lawsAmounts paid to an eligible individual under this section—
(1) shall be treated for purposes of the internal revenue laws of the United States as damages for human suffering; and
(2) shall not be included as income or resources for purposes of determining eligibility to receive benefits described in section 3803(c)(2)(C) of title 31 or available under any other law administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or for purposes of determining the amount of such benefits.
(g) Liability of United States limited to amount in Fund
(1) General rule
(2) Coordination with other provisions
(3) Order in which unpaid claims to be paid
(h) Judicial review
(1) Review by the Court of Federal Claims
(2) Applicability
(Pub. L. 100–383, title I, § 105, Aug. 10, 1988, 102 Stat. 905; Pub. L. 101–162, title II, § 209(b), Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1005; Pub. L. 102–371, §§ 4–6(a), Sept. 27, 1992, 106 Stat. 1167, 1168; Pub. L. 102–572, title IX, § 902(b)(1), Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4516.)