Citation Nr: 18140469 Decision Date: 10/04/18 Archive Date: 10/03/18 DOCKET NO. 15-31 506 DATE: October 4, 2018 ORDER The claim of entitlement to burial benefits is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The appellant’s claim for burial benefits was received in March 2015. 2. The appellant is the funeral director at the facility where the Veteran’s funeral was held. 3. In a May 2015 decision, the Veteran’s adult daughter was awarded $2,000.00 in service-connected burial benefits. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for payment of burial benefits are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 2302, 2303; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1702. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from June 1970 to February 1972. He died in March 2015. The appellant is the director of the funeral home where the Veteran’s funeral was held. This appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) arose from a May 2015 decision in which the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Paul, Minnesota denied entitlement to burial benefits. The appellant filed a notice of disagreement (NOD) in May 2015. The RO issued a statement of the case (SOC) in August 2015, and the appellant filed a substantive appeal (via a VA Form 9, Appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals) later that month. The appellant asserts that, as the director of the funeral home where the Veteran's funeral occurred, he incurred costs related to the Veteran's funeral and is entitled to burial benefits to recoup those costs. 38 C.F.R. § 3.1702 governs the priority of payment of burial benefits. Section (b) governs priority of payments for claims received on or after July 7, 2014. As the appellant's claim for burial benefits was received in September 2014, only those provisions will be considered. 38 C.F.R. § 3.1702(b) states: (1) Except for claims a State, or an agency or political subdivision of a State, files under § 3.1707, Plot or interment allowance for burial in a State veterans’ cemetery or other cemetery, or § 3.1708, Burial of a veteran whose remains are unclaimed, VA will pay, upon the death of a veteran, the first living person to file of those listed below: (i) His or her surviving spouse; (ii) The survivor of a legal union between the deceased veteran and the survivor that is not covered by paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section. For purposes of this paragraph, legal union means a formal relationship between the decedent and the survivor that (A) Existed on the date of the veteran's death, (B) Was recognized under the law of the State in which the couple formalized the relationship, and (C) Was evidenced by the State’s issuance of documentation memorializing the relationship; (iii) His or her children, regardless of age; (iv) His or her parents or the surviving parent; or (v) The executor or administrator of the estate of the deceased veteran. If no executor or administrator has been appointed, VA may pay burial benefits based on a claim filed by a person acting for such estate who will distribute the burial benefits to the person or persons entitled to such distribution under the laws of the veteran's last State of residence. (2) In the case of a veteran whose remains are unclaimed, VA will pay the person or entity that provided burial services and transportation subject to the limitations prescribed in §§ 3.1708 and 3.1709. (3) VA will pay burial benefits to a single representative of the categories in paragraph (b)(1) of this section. VA will not divide applicable burial benefits among claimants; it is the responsibility of the recipient to distribute benefits as may be required. In this instance, in a May 2015 decision, the Veteran’s adult daughter was awarded $2,000.00 in service-connected burial benefits. As noted above, under 38 C.F.R. § 3.1702(b)(1)(iii), the Veteran’s daughter has priority in the award of burial benefits. It is further noted that, under 38 C.F.R. § 3.1702(b)(3), VA will only pay burial benefits to a single claimant and will not divide applicable burial benefits among claimants. As VA has already awarded burial benefits to the Veteran’s adult daughter and she had the highest priority for being awarded burial benefits, the appellant cannot be awarded any additional burial benefits. The legal authority pertaining to burial benefits is prescribed by Congress and implemented via regulations enacted by VA, and neither the agency of original jurisdiction nor the Board is free to disregard laws and regulations enacted for the administration of VA programs. See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(c); 38 C.F.R. § 20.101(a). In other words, the Board is bound by the governing legal authority, and is without authority to grant benefits on an equitable basis. As, on these facts, there is no legal basis to award burial benefits and the appellant’s claim must be denied as a matter of law. Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426 (1994). JACQUELINE E. MONROE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Michael Sanford, Counsel