Citation Nr: 18157332 Decision Date: 12/12/18 Archive Date: 12/12/18 DOCKET NO. 15-14 132 DATE: December 12, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to an effective date prior to April 26, 2013, for the reinstatement of nonservice-connected pension benefits is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from September 1969 to August 1971. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2014 administrative decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pension Management Center (PMC) in St Paul, Minnesota. 1. Entitlement to an effective date prior to April 26, 2013, for the reinstatement of nonservice-connected pension benefits is remanded. The Veteran seeks an earlier effective date for the reinstatement of his nonservice connected pension benefits. The Board finds that a remand is necessary to consider entitlement to benefits from July 26, 2005. The Veteran’s grant of nonservice-connected pension benefits was terminated effective June 26, 2005, due to unreported income of his spouse. The Veteran filed for a waiver of debt in the amount of $30,223.00 on July 26, 2005. That waiver was denied and the Veteran appealed that decision to the Board which remanded the claim September 2010. A waiver in the full amount was subsequently granted in December 2012 and thus that issue was never returned to the Board as the claim was granted in full. The Veteran filed a new claim for reinstatement of nonservice-connected pension benefits on April 26, 2013. That claim was subsequently granted in the January 2014 decision now on appeal. However, the Veteran asserts that his pension benefits should in fact be granted back to the time that his pension benefits were termination in 2005. Except as otherwise provided, the effective date of an evaluation and award for pension, compensation, or dependency and indemnity compensation based on an original claim, a claim reopened after a final disallowance, or a claim for increase will be the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is the later. 38 U.S.C. § 5110(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400. In this matter, the Board observes that, with his request for a waiver of overpayment on July 26, 2005, the Veteran also clearly stated that he wished for his pension to be reinstated based on his and his spouse’s current income. With that request, he submitted a financial status report. The Board is satisfied that, based upon the Federal regulations in effect at that time, the Veteran filed a claim for reinstatement of his nonservice-connected pension benefits effective July 26, 2005. (To the extent that the Board’s 2010 remand did not address this issue, the Board now observes that that remand concerned missing documents, to include the July 2005 claim for a waiver which it now finds includes the claim to reinstate. Absent that document showing the claim was filed at the time of the prior remand, the Board could not have referred this issue earlier for further development). Although the Board is satisfied that the claim to reinstate was filed in July 2005, entitlement to pension benefits is based upon either the date the claim was filed or date of entitlement, whichever is later. Although entitlement from April 2013 has been granted, in this case, VA has only adjudicated the claim based on the 2013 claim, and has not considered or developed entitlement between July 2005 and April 2013. Therefore, on remand, the PMC should readjudicate entitlement to the reinstated pension benefits based on the initial filing which was made in July 2005. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Invite the Veteran to submit any additional evidence in support of his claim, to include any financial disclosures pertaining to the time between July 2005 and April 2013. The agency of original jurisdiction should complete any additional development necessary based on an initial claim to reinstatement of July 26, 2005. 2. Consider the Veteran’s claim to reinstatement of his nonservice-connected pension benefits from the date of the initial claim for reinstatement, July 26, 2005. B.T. KNOPE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Pryce, Associate Counsel