As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following respective meanings, unless another meaning is clearly required by the context:
(1) “Administrator” means the adjutant general of the Commonwealth;
(2) “Veteran” means a person who served in the active Armed Forces of the United States, during the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, or the Korean conflict, for a period of ninety (90) days or more (exclusive of time spent AWOL; or in penal confinement as a result of a sentence imposed by court-martial; or in service for which no allowance is made according to KRS
40.040), with some portion of service within the respective hereinafter prescribed dates, who is still in the Armed Forces, or was released, separated, discharged, or retired therefrom under honorable conditions;
(3) “Duty in active Armed Forces” includes active duty, and any period of inactive duty training during which the individual concerned was disabled; and if a person in the active Armed Forces was released, separated, or discharged therefrom by reason of disability incurred in line of duty before serving as much as ninety (90) days, such person shall be qualified for entitlement to a bonus payment under this chapter, notwithstanding failure to remain in service for the minimum time otherwise prescribed;
(4) “Armed Forces” means the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, including the reserve components thereof on active duty;
(5) “Qualified veteran” means a person answering to the specifications set forth in subsections (2) and (3), and who
(a) Was a resident of the Commonwealth at the time of entry into active service in the Armed Forces and for at least six (6) months prior thereto; and
(b) Who has not received a bonus or like compensation from another state;
and
(c) Who is not subject to the forfeiture provisions of this chapter;
(6) “Resident of the Commonwealth at the time of entry into the active service” means any person who gave the Commonwealth of Kentucky, or any specific place in this Commonwealth, as his or her place of residence at such time of entry, without regard to the place of enlistment, commission, or induction. Conclusive and exclusive evidence of such giving of place of residence shall be the official records on file in the Department of Defense of the United States, or any official record thereof in the files of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; but if it be shown to the satisfaction of the administrator that for any reason no such record was made, or that the same has been lost, misplaced, or destroyed, or that an authenticated copy thereof cannot be obtained within a reasonable time, other evidence of bona fide residence may be accepted if deemed sufficient by the administrator;
(7) “Resident,” in any context other than as in subsection (6), means a legal resident as determined by generally established principles of law, as may be defined, and subject to proof, according to such regulations as the administrator may promulgate;
(8) “Beneficiary” means, in this order, widow, child or children (sharing equally), mother, father, and no other;
(9) (a) “Widow” means a woman who was the wife of a veteran at the time of his death, and who had not deserted him (except where there was a separation which was due to the misconduct of, or procured by, the veteran without the fault of the wife), and who had not remarried, (unless the purported remarriage was void or had been annulled);
(b) The term “widow” also includes “widower” in the case of a man who was the husband of a female veteran at the time of her death;
(10) “Child” means a person:
(a) Who is under the age of eighteen (18); or
(b) Who, before attaining the age of eighteen (18) years, became permanently incapable of self-support; or
(c) Who, after attaining the age of eighteen (18) years and until completion of education or training (but not after attaining the age of twenty-one (21) years) is pursuing a course of instruction at a bona fide educational institution; and who, in relationship to the veteran, is a child born in lawful wedlock; a legally adopted child; a stepchild who is a member of a veteran’s household or was a member at the time of the veteran’s death; or a child born out of wedlock, but, as to the alleged father, only if acknowledged in writing signed by him, or if he had, before his death, been judicially decreed to be the father of such child;
(11) “Mother” means a mother, a mother through adoption, or a woman who for a period of not less than one (1) year stood in the relationship of a mother to a qualified veteran before his or her entry into active service in the Armed Forces, or if two (2) persons stood in such relationship for one (1) year or more, the person who last stood in such relationship before the veteran’s last entry into active service in the Armed Forces;
(12) “Father” means a father, a father through adoption, or a man who for a period of not less than one (1) year stood in the relationship of a father to a qualified veteran before his or her entry into active service in the Armed Forces, or if two (2) persons stood in such relationship for one (1) year or more, the person who last stood in such relationship before the veteran’s last entry into active service in the Armed Forces;
(13) “In the continental United States” means any place in the District of Columbia and the states of the United States which are on the North American continent, exclusive of Alaska;
(14) “Outside the continental United States” means any place elsewhere than as defined in subsection (13);
(15) “Spanish-American War”:
(a) Means the period beginning on April 21, 1898, and ending on July 4,
1902;
(b) Includes the Philippine Insurrection and the Boxer Rebellion; and
(c) In the case of a veteran who served with the United States military forces engaged in hostilities in the Moro Province, means the period beginning
on April 21, 1898, and ending on July 15, 1903; (16) “World War I”:
(a) Means the period beginning on April 6, 1917, and ending on November
11, 1918; and
(b) In the case of a veteran who served with the United States military forces in Russia, means the period beginning on April 6, 1917, and ending on April 1, 1920; and
(c) Any service between April 6, 1917, and July 1, 1921, if some part thereof was between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, both dates being inclusive;
(17) “World War II” means the period beginning December 7, 1941, and ending
December 31, 1946;
(18) “Korean conflict” means the period beginning on June 27, 1950, and ending
January 31, 1955;
(19) “Bonus” and “veterans’ bonus” means the compensation authorized by this chapter;
(20) “Bonus claim” means a claim or potential claim for a veterans’ bonus; (21) “Claimant” means one who seeks to obtain payment of a bonus claim.
Effective:June 29, 2017
History: Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 42, sec. 2, effective June 29, 2017. — Amended 2015 Ky. Acts ch. 68, sec. 1, effective June 24, 2015. — Amended
1984 Ky. Acts ch. 16, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1984. — Amended 1960 (1st
Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 1, sec. 1, effective September 30, 1960. — Created
1960 Ky. Acts ch. 15, sec. 3.