Citation Nr: 18150354
Decision Date: 11/15/18	Archive Date: 11/14/18

DOCKET NO. 15-09 694
DATE:	November 15, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to accrued benefits is denied.
REFERRAL
Entitlement to an effective date prior to April 1, 2010, for the award of nonservice-connected pension benefits with aid and attendance filed by the Veteran’s adult son, SP, for purposes of accrued benefits or as a substituted claimant, is referred to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) for appropriate action. 38 C.F.R. § 19.9 (b) (2017).
FINDING OF FACT
1.  The Veteran died in March 2011.
2.  The Appellant filed her claim for accrued benefits in June 2012, more than a year after the death of the Veteran.  
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to accrued benefits are not met. 38 U.S.C. § 101 (4), 1542, 5102, 5103, 5103A, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.57, 3.950 (2017). 
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from March 1951 to March 1953.  The Veteran died in March 2011.  The Appellant is the adult daughter of the Veteran.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2014 decision. A hearing was scheduled before the Board in October 2018.  The Appellant failed to appear.  The Board notes that multiple hearing notices were sent to the address provided by the Appellant and only one returned as undeliverable.  The regularity of the mail with respect to the other notice letter is presumed.  Nevertheless, the Appellant has not provided any forwarding address and she has an obligation to keep VA apprised of her whereabouts, including her current address. See Jones v. West, 12 Vet. App. 98 (1998). If she does not, VA is not obligated to find her. See Hyson v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 262, 265 (1993). The Board resultantly is considering the hearing request withdrawn and will proceed to reviewing this case based on the evidence of record. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.704 (d), (e) (2017). 
Entitlement to accrued benefits
Accrued benefits are periodic monetary benefits under laws administered by the Secretary to which an individual was entitled at death under existing ratings or decisions or those based on evidence in the file at date of death and due and unpaid. Accrued benefits shall, upon the death of such individual, be paid to the living person first listed below: (i) the Veteran’s spouse; (ii) the Veteran’s children (in equal shares); (iii) the Veteran’s dependent parents (in equal shares). 38 U.S.C.  § 5121 (a)(2); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000 (a)(1).
Applications for accrued benefits must be filed within one year after the date of death. 38 U.S.C. § 5121. The Veteran passed away in March 2011. This Appellant’s claim for entitlement to accrued benefits was received by VA in June 2012. Thus, the Appellant’s claim was not filed in a timely manner and must be denied as a matter of law. Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426 (1994).
 
E. I. VELEZ
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. L. Wallin, Counsel