Citation Nr: 18156277 Decision Date: 12/11/18 Archive Date: 12/07/18 DOCKET NO. 15-18 768 DATE: December 11, 2018 ORDER Recognition as the Veteran’s surviving child for the purposes of establishing eligibility for dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), death pension, and accrued benefits is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran died in May 2000; the Appellant claims entitlement to benefits as his daughter. 2. The Appellant’s birth certificate indicates the Veteran was not her biological father; the evidence does not support a finding that she was legally adopted by the Veteran or that she was his stepchild. 3. The Appellant lacks standing to pursue a claim for DIC benefits. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for recognition of the Appellant as the surviving child of the Veteran for purposes of basic eligibility for DIC, death pension, and accrued benefits are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101, 1313, 1542, 5121; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.3, 3.24, 3.57, 3.1000. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from October 1942 to February 1946. He died in May 2000. The Appellant claims entitlement to DIC benefits as his daughter. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) death benefits, such as DIC, may be paid to a child of a veteran who is an unmarried person who is a legitimate child; a child legally adopted before the age of 18 years; a stepchild who acquired that status before the age of 18 years and who is (was) a member of the veteran’s household at the time of the veteran’s death; or an illegitimate child. Further, the child must be someone who: (1) is under the age of 18 years; (2) before reaching the age of 18 years became permanently incapable of self-support; or (3) after reaching the age of 18 years and until completion of education or training (but not after reaching the age of 23 years) is pursuing a course of instruction at an approved educational institution. 38 U.S.C. § 101(4); 38 C.F.R. § 3.57(a). A surviving child is entitled to DIC where there is no surviving spouse. 38 U.S.C. § 1313(b). Here, the Veteran died in May 2000. The record also contains the death certificate of the Appellant’s mother who died in July 1996. There is no indication of record that the Veteran and the Appellant’s mother were ever married. Here, basic recognition as an eligible claimant for VA death benefits must be denied because the Appellant does meet the definition of a “child” as required for such eligibility. Initially, the Veteran is not listed as her biological father on her birth certificate and there is no indication he legally adopted the Appellant or was married to her mother. A marriage certificate does appear for the Appellant’s mother and the man who is listed as her biological father on her birth certificate. In addition, the Appellant filed her claim for DIC benefits in June 2010, at which time she was 41 years of age. Thus, her claim was received well after her 18th or 23rd birthdays. The Board wishes to acknowledge the Appellant’s many statements in support of claim indicating that the Veteran appears to have stepped into a paternal role for her and her siblings after the death of their biological father three weeks prior to the Appellant’s birth. Specifically, in May 2011, the Appellant submitted a statement from the pastor of her mother’s church indicating that during the years the Veteran was living with the Appellant’s mother, he was considered the father of the Appellant. In February 2013, she submitted a statement from her half-sister stating that the Appellant was the only child of her mother and the Veteran. The Appellant thereafter submitted a correspondence indicating that the man who had her last name and was the father of her siblings died three weeks before she was born in 1969. She submitted his death certificate. In 2015, the Appellant submitted her birth certificate that indicates the man who had her last name, not the Veteran, is her biological father. In a May 2015 statement, she indicated she was given the last name of the man who her mother was married to and who was the father of her siblings, but stated again that such man died before she was born. She stated the Veteran was there for her and her siblings from the time she was born and helped her through school. Although the Veteran may have been there for the Appellant and held himself out as her father since the time she was born, the probative evidence, specifically the Appellant’s birth certificate, does not indicate the Veteran was, in fact, her biological father. The evidence also does not support a finding that the Veteran legally adopted the Appellant or was married to the Veteran’s mother at any point. As such, the Appellant cannot claim entitlement to benefits as his stepchild. The Board recognizes that the record indicates the Appellant is receiving Social Security Administration disability benefits due to a mental handicap; however, she is over the age of 23 and no longer considered a dependent, or helpless child, for VA purposes even if the evidence supported a finding that the Veteran was her father. Based on the foregoing, the Appellant does not have standing to bring a claim for DIC benefits based on the Veteran’s death and her claim must be denied. Federal laws authorizing monetary benefits are enacted by Congress, and, unless an individual meets all the requirements of a particular law, he or she is not entitled to the benefit; indeed, the benefit cannot be awarded, notwithstanding extenuating circumstances or claims of fairness. See, e.g., Office of Personnel Management v. Richmond, 496 U.S. 414, 426, 110 L. Ed. 2d 387, 110 S. Ct. 2465 (1990); Davenport v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 522 (2002); Harvey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 416 (1994). The facts in this case are not in dispute, and application of the law to the facts is dispositive. Where there is no entitlement under the law to the benefit sought, the appeal must be denied. See Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426 (1994). Nathan Kroes Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD C. Boyd Iwanowski, Counsel