Citation Nr: 18159188 Decision Date: 12/19/18 Archive Date: 12/18/18 DOCKET NO. 15-02 843 DATE: December 19, 2018 REMANDED ISSUE Entitlement to accrued benefits is remanded. The appellant testified at a May 2018 Board videoconference hearing. The hearing transcript is of record. Entitlement to accrued benefits is remanded. The appellant contends that payment of accrued benefits is warranted. L.W., the Veteran’s surviving spouse, was in receipt of death pension benefits until February 2011, when pension benefits were stopped effective June 12, 2010 based on an outstanding warrant. While L.W.’s attorney submitted a Court order in October 2011 showing that the warrant was dismissed on July 8, 2010, she died prior to reinstatement of those benefits. Periodic monetary benefits under laws administered by VA, to which a payee was entitled at his or her death under existing ratings or decisions or those based on evidence in the file at date of death and due and unpaid, will, upon the death of such person, be paid as follows: In pertinent part, upon the death of a surviving spouse or remarried surviving spouse, to the veteran’s children. 38 U.S.C. § 5121 (a)(2),(3),(5) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000 (a),(2) (2018). While the appellant is the Veteran’s adult son, for purposes of determining eligibility for payment, a “child” of the veteran must be unmarried and must be either under the age of 18, have become permanently incapable of self- support before the age of 18, or be between the ages of 18 and 23 and pursuing a course of instruction at an approved educational institution. 38 U.S.C. § 101 (4)(A)(ii); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.57 (a)(1), 3.1000(d)(2). The controlling law with respect to accrued VA benefits provides that accrued benefits are only paid to certain recipients rather than to the payee’s estate. In all other cases, only so much of the accrued benefit may be paid as necessary to reimburse the person who bore the expense of the last sickness and burial. See 38 U.S.C. § 5121; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000. In the appellant’s January 2013 claim and during a Board hearing, he identified payment of L.W.’s expenses prior to her death by himself and L.E.B., to include her car payments, car repair costs, amounts paid toward furniture, electricity, propane, and cash. While the Board is cognizant of the necessity of payment of such expenses, they are not related to L.W.’s last sickness as contemplated under the applicable regulations. VA policy allows for items of expense in connection with claim for reimbursement. These expenses include physician expenses, medicinal expenses, nursing expenses, and transportation expenses (incurred in transporting the body of the deceased beneficiary to the place of burial and for an attendant or escort to and from the place of burial). Consideration is to be given to all reasonable expenses incident to last illness and burial; and that only those charges which are clearly shown not to be related to the beneficiary’s last illness are to be disallowed. Under relevant provisions, non-medical expenses should be excluded from reimbursement. Caranto v. Brown, 4 Vet. App. 516, 518 (1993). Accordingly, the Board finds that a remand is warranted to afford the appellant an opportunity to submit any billing statements, receipts, or credit and banking statements showing that he paid for the expenses of last sickness or burial for the purpose of reimbursement of those expenses from the accrued benefits. The matter is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Ask the appellant to submit any evidence, to include billing statements, receipts, or credit and banking statements, to verify that he paid for the expenses of last sickness (i.e. physician expenses, medicinal expenses, nursing expenses) and burial for the Veteran’s spouse for the purpose of reimbursement of those expenses. 2. After all development has been completed, readjudicate the appeal. If the benefit sought remains denied, furnish the appellant with a Supplemental Statement of the Case, and provide a reasonable opportunity to respond before returning the record to the Board for further review. L. CHU Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Christine C. Kung