Citation Nr: 18161069 Decision Date: 12/28/18 Archive Date: 12/28/18 DOCKET NO. 17-07 039 DATE: December 28, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to an award of additional compensation for the Veteran’s spouse since April 28, 2010 is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran submitted evidence for dependency in October 2011 within one year of the notification of an October 2011 rating decision, which assigned the Veteran a 70 percent rating for his posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), effective April 28, 2010. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an award of additional compensation for dependent spouse since April 28, 2010 have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1115, 5107, 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.4, 3.102, 3.401. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from February 1966 to October 1969. The Veteran asserts that for his dependency claim for his spouse, he is entitled to an effective date of October 18, 2011, the date when he submitted the VA Form 21-686c. An award of additional compensation for dependents based on the establishment of a rating in the percentage specified by law for that purpose shall be payable from the effective date of such rating, but only if proof of dependents is received within one year from the date of such rating. 38 U.S.C. § 5110 (f). Veterans having a 30 percent or more service-connected condition may be entitled to additional compensation for a spouse, dependent parents, or unmarried children under 18 (or under 23 if attending an approved school) or when prior to age 18 the child has become permanently incapable of self-support because of mental or physical defect. 38 U.S.C. § 1115; 38 C.F.R. § 3.4 (b)(2). Regarding additional compensation for dependents, the effective date will be the latest of the following dates: (1) date of claim; (2) date the dependency arises; (3) effective date of the qualifying disability rating provided evidence of dependency is received within a year of notification of such rating action; or (4) date of commencement of the Veteran’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 C.F.R. § 3.401 (b)(1). Except as otherwise provided by law, a claimant has the responsibility to present and support a claim for benefits under the laws administered by VA. VA shall consider all information and medical and lay evidence of record. Where there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, VA shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). The Veteran was granted service connection for his posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a rating decision issued on October 4, 2011; the RO assigned an initial evaluation of 70 percent, effective April 28, 2010 in the same rating decision. The Veteran was notified of the decision in a notification letter dated October 5, 2011. The notification letter indicates that the Veteran was receiving compensation as a single veteran with no dependents. In response, the Veteran filed a VA Form 21-686c Declaration of Status of Dependents, where he stated he had been married to Barbara Salazar since February 2002; the RO received this form on October 20, 2011. The Veteran inquired the RO about the status of his dependency claim at least three times in May 2012, March 2013, and September 2013 before the RO finally sent the Veteran a VCAA letter in January 2014, notifying him that the RO was working on his claim for additional benefits for his wife and acknowledged that his Form 21-686c was received on October 18, 2011. The RO requested additional information from the Veteran to clarify the Veteran’s history of previous marriages. The Veteran submitted the evidence requested and his claim for additional dependency was granted in July 2014. The RO assigned an effective date of July 21, 2014, the date when it finally made the decision. A review of the evidence indicates that the Veteran submitted evidence of dependency for his spouse in the form of VA Form 21-686c on October 18, 2011. He filed his claim within 2 weeks of dispatch of the RO’s notification letter for the rating decision, which assigned a 70 percent rating for his PTSD. The Veteran diligently inquired about his dependency claim since then and until the RO issued its VCAA letter in January 2014, and the RO acknowledges in its VCAA letter that his claim was received on October 18, 2011.   Resolving all reasonable doubts in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that the Veteran is entitled to an effective date of April 28, 2010, when the 70 percent rating for his PTSD became effective under 38 C.F.R. §3.401(b)(3) because he submitted evidence of dependency within one year of being notified of the 70 percent rating decision for his PTSD and the effective date of the 70 percent rating is April 28, 2010. MICHAEL D. LYON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Y. Taylor, Associate Counsel