A bipartisan bill allowing veterans more flexibility on naming beneficiaries in the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) was introduced by New Jersey Democrat Representative Mikie Sherrill and Florida Republican Representative Gus Bilirakis.

The "Debra Nixon Special Needs Trust Inclusion Act," if passed, will offer veterans participating in SBP the full advantage of Special Needs Trusts.

SBP participants currently are not allowed to change their beneficiaries to incorporate the trusts that the Debra Nixon Special Needs Trust Inclusion Act addresses.

In 2014, Congress allowed some enrollees to designate a Special Needs Trust as their SBP beneficiary according to specific caveats. However, this flexibility was limited to those who had previously designated "Spouse and Child" or "Child Only" as their beneficiary.

This 2014 law created issues for many veterans with special needs dependents since they had already designated "Spouse Only" to avoid jeopardizing their child's other benefits. Under current law, veterans don’t have the ability to change their designee. The new measure would change that.

This new legislation is named after veteran Debra Nixon, who experienced the frustrations of the prior legislation first hand.

Nixon was a member of the Uniformed Public Health Corps and a resident of New Jersey's 11th District, the voting district for Representative Sherrill. Dixon was not allowed to alter her beneficiary due to laws dating from 2014.

The new legislation would ensure a veteran's right to take full advantage of designating the vet’s child's Special Needs Trust with full earned benefits.

"The Survivor Benefit Plan is an earned benefit for our men and women in uniform," said Rep. Sherrill. "The families of our service members deserve to take full advantage of the program. Many of our veterans with dependents with special needs, including Debra Nixon in my District, haven't been able to designate their children as beneficiaries for fear of imperiling the other benefits their dependent receives. It is past time for that to change."

According to legislative co-sponsor Gus Bilirakis, the Debra Nixon Special Needs Trust Inclusion Act will authorize a limited benefits' “open season” period for enrollees to change their “Spouse Only” designation to either “Spouse and Child” or “Child Only,” thereby enabling special needs children the opportunity to take full advantage of the benefit their parent earned.

The bill would also designate the creation of a new Special Needs Trust as a qualifying event allowing veterans to change their designee.

"As a father of three adult children, I know that job of parenting never really ends. However, parents of children or adults with special needs face unique challenges as they prepare for the long-term needs of their child," said Rep. Bilirakis. "Our legislation removes bureaucratic barriers and helps make this an easier process for these families."

The bipartisan Debra Nixon Special Needs Trust Inclusion Act was delivered by Bilirakis and Sherril to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee last week.