For some surviving military spouses, getting married again can come with a price few Americans likely realize exists: losing benefits tied to the service and death of their first spouse. A proposal before Congress could change that for tens of thousands of military survivors. Approximately 50,000 surviving spouses under age 55 currently receive Department of Veterans Affairs Dependency and Indemnity Compensation and could retain those benefits if they remarry under the Love Lives On Act, according to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS. And the legislation wouldn't only protect benefits going forward. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 4,750 surviving spouses who previously lost DIC eligibility because they remarried would begin receiving the benefit again within two years if the legislation becomes law. Another 1,350 surviving spouses who lost eligibility for the military's Survivor Benefit Plan because of remarriage would begin receiving those payments again within one year. Together, the numbers put a new dimension on a policy military survivor advocates have spent decades trying to change: Under current law, surviving spouses can lose certain benefits when they remarry before age 55. Bonnie Carroll, president and founder of TAPS, told Military.com in an interview that military families have been fighting to eliminate what advocates call the "remarriage penalty" for decades.