SEMINOLE — When Michael Rieker didn't get his check from the Department of Veterans Affairs in November, he called to try to fix the issue.

Then he realized he had a bigger problem than a late check: The VA thought he was dead.

"I actually spent five minutes on the phone arguing with (the VA) that I was alive," he said.

Rieker, a 69-year-old Navy veteran, reached out to U.S. Rep. David Jolly, who'd been pressing the VA on this issue for about a year.

And after consistent pressure from the Indian Shores Republican, the VA announced this week that its process for declaring veterans dead would change.

Instead of automatic termination of veterans' benefits, the VA will contact veterans or their families explaining that records show they're deceased.

Then, the VA will give them 30 days to respond before cutting off benefits — a measure that could have saved Rieker the disruption of his income.

Without his nearly $3,000 monthly check, Rieker said he grew nervous — he even started looking around his house for things he could sell.

"It's not just the notion that a veteran, or a spouse, has been declared deceased," Jolly said at a news conference in his Seminole office on Tuesday. "It's all the indications that follow once the computer declares a veteran has become deceased — the greatest implication of all, a cessation of benefits."

Mary Ann Clough, a Clearwater woman whom the VA declared dead last fall, said the government took nearly $4,000 out of her bank account that she'd received for her second husband's military service.

"I didn't understand why," said Clough, 86. So she wrote to Jolly, hoping he'd come to her aid.

"I just wrote him a little note," she said, "I didn't even think he'd read it. I told him what happened, and in three weeks I had my money back."

Jolly said six to eight veterans in the Tampa Bay area were affected by similar errors, and he estimated 12 veterans nationwide are wrongly declared dead every month, their benefits abruptly ending.

"For those veterans across the country that have their benefits disrupted, it should never happen again," he said.

"Many people would say a solution in 10 months is government working quickly," Jolly said. "I'm excited — this is a good week to have good news."

Rieker of Dunedin said he's glad to see the VA make steps toward correcting the errors.

"It's not just about me," he said. "It's about a lot of veterans out there that really need help. They really rely on those benefits."

Conact Hanna Marcus at hmarcus@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8603. Follow @hannaemarcus.