Citation Nr: 18155651
Decision Date: 12/04/18	Archive Date: 12/04/18

DOCKET NO. 15-16 741
DATE:	December 4, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to accrued benefits is denied.
REFERRED
The Appellant filed a claim of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death in July 2012.  Specifically, the Appellant asserted the Veteran’s death from lung cancer was the result of herbicide exposure during his active military service. This matter has not been adjudicated and is referred to the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) for appropriate action. 38 C.F.R. § 19.9 (b).
FINDING OF FACT
1.  The Veteran died in September 2010.
2.  The Appellant filed a claim for accrued benefits in July 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 had multiple periods of active military service.  The Veteran died in September 2010.  The Appellant is an adult child of the Veteran.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeal (Board) on appeal from a March 2014 decision. 
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 September 2010. The Appellant’s claim for entitlement to accrued benefits was received by VA in July 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