Citation Nr: 18150558
Decision Date: 11/15/18	Archive Date: 11/15/18

DOCKET NO. 16-29 815
DATE:	November 15, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to additional monies payable as dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from December 1988 to August 1999. 
The Veteran died in October 2013, and the appellant is the Veteran’s surviving child.
In its May 2016 decision, the Agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) granted $1,300 for funeral and burial benefits.  Therefore, as the issue has been granted in full, it is not before the Board.  Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156, 1159 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
In April 2015, the agency of jurisdiction (AOJ) granted service-connected death benefits or dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), effective October 1, 2013.  The appellant was paid $8,879.60 for retroactive DIC and $529.55 per month from December 1, 2014 to June 30, 2016.  In August 2015, the Veteran filed a Notice of Disagreement disagreeing with total amount to be paid.  The appellant stated that she did not received March’s $529.55 payment.  She stated that the DIC retroactive sum should have been $9,409.15.  In its May 2016 Statement of the Case, the AOJ stated that VA benefits systems showed the appellant received a payment of $529.55 on April 29, 2015 which is the same amount of the benefit for the month of March 2015.  In June 2016, the appellant submitted a VA Form 9 explaining that she could find no indication of any such payment having been deposited.  The issue was certified to the Board.  In a November 2016 correspondence, the appellant’s mother stated that the appellant’s case had been resolved.  In support of her assertion, the appellant’s mother submitted a snapshot of an www.ebenefits.va.gov page that noted a dependency item was closed.  However, the page does not verify that the appellant received the March 2015 payment.  Therefore, the AOJ should verify that the payment was indeed sent to the appellant.  
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1.   The AOJ should associate with the file the records reflecting the March 2015 payment was sent to the appellant.  
2.  If payment was not sent to the appellant, provide a Supplemental Statement of the Case and return the case to the Board.
 
MICHAEL LANE
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T. Henry, Associate Counsel