Citation Nr: 18159217 Decision Date: 12/18/18 Archive Date: 12/18/18 DOCKET NO. 15-12 610 DATE: December 18, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to an effective date prior to June 1, 2014, for the purpose of adding the Veteran’s spouse and stepson to his award is denied. FINDING OF FACT The weight of competent and probative evidence shows that May 22, 2014, is the earliest date the Veteran informed VA of his wife, T.B., or stepson, G.D. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to an effective date prior to June 1, 2014, for the purpose of adding the Veteran’s spouse and stepson to his award have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1115, 5110, 5111(a); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.3, 3.4, 3.31, 3.204, 3.217, 3.400, 3.401. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from August 1986 to November 1998 and from October 2000 to June 2008. This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2014 decisional letter issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office (RO) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Entitlement to an effective date prior to June 1, 2014, for the purpose of adding the Veteran's spouse and stepson to his award. Veterans who have service-connected disabilities rated as 30 percent disabling and higher may be entitled to additional compensation for dependents. 38 U.S.C. § 1115; 38 C.F.R. § 3.4(b)(2). When determining the effective date for an award of additional compensation for dependents, the effective date will be the last of the following dates: (1) the date of claim; (2) the date the dependency arises; (3) the effective date of the qualifying disability rating provided evidence of dependency is received within a year of notification of such rating action; or (4) the date of commencement of the service member’s award. 38 C.F.R. § 3.401(b). The “date of claim” for additional compensation for dependents is the date of the Veteran’s marriage or birth/adoption of a child, if evidence of the event is received within a year of the event; otherwise, the date notice is received of the dependent’s existence, if evidence is received within a year of notification of such rating action. 38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.401. The earliest date that an additional award of compensation for dependents can occur is the first day of the calendar month following the month in which the award became effective. 38 C.F.R. § 3.31. Under 38 U.S.C. § 5101(a), a specific claim must be filed in order for benefits to be paid or furnished to any individual under the laws administered by VA. See also 38 C.F.R. § 3.151(a). The Secretary has authority to prescribe the nature and extent of the proof required in order to establish a right to VA benefits. See 38 U.S.C. § 501. VA will accept, for purposes of determining entitlement to benefits under laws administered by VA, the statement of a claimant as proof of marriage, dissolution of a marriage, birth of a child, or death of a dependent, provided that the statement contains: the date (month and year) and place of the event; the full name and relationship of the other person to the claimant; and the social security number of the other person. 38 U.S.C. § 5124; 38 C.F.R. § 3.204. In this case, the evidence demonstrates that the Veteran submitted a VA Form 21-686c in May 2014, which provided notice of his marriage to T.B. in February 2013 with the addition of minor child G.D. See May 2014 Notification Letter. Additional compensation for the Veteran’s new wife and dependent child were added to his benefits on June 1, 2014. There is no evidence that VA was notified of the Veteran’s wife or stepson prior to the May 2014 communication. Since the claim was not submitted within one year of his February 2013 marriage to T.B., the proper effective date is the first day of the month following the date of the claim. To the extent the Veteran appears to be raising an argument couched in equity in that he attempted to submit evidence of the dependency changes on several occasions at various military installations, see June 2014 Notice of Disagreement, the Board is bound by the law and is without authority to grant benefits on an equitable basis. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 503, 7104. Because evidence of the changes in dependency status were not received until May 2014 (more than a year following his marriage), an earlier effective date cannot be granted. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.401(b). (Continued on the next page)   In summary, for the reasons and bases set forth above, the Board concludes that the most credible and probative evidence weighs against a finding that an effective date earlier than June 1, 2014, for the payment of service-connected compensation for the Veteran’s wife and stepson is warranted. Thus, the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, and it is denied. T. Matta Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD B. N. Quarles, Associate Counsel