Citation Nr: 18161256 Decision Date: 12/31/18 Archive Date: 12/31/18 DOCKET NO. 16-58 410A DATE: December 31, 2018 ORDER An effective date prior to January 15, 2013, for the addition of the Veteran’s spouse, M.S., as her dependent to her award of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran first notified VA of her marriage to M.S. on January 15, 2013. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an effective date prior to January 15, 2013 for the award of dependency benefits for the Veteran’s spouse, M.S., have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1115, 5110 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.4, 3.204, 3.401 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran, who is the appellant in this case, has confirmed active service from January 1987 to September 1997. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2015 decision of a VA Regional Office (RO). 1. Entitlement to an effective date prior to January 15, 2013, for the addition of the Veteran’s spouse, M.S., as her dependent to her award of VA disability compensation. 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) 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 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. 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. Any person who applies for or is in receipt of any compensation or pension benefit under laws administered by the Secretary shall, if requested by the Secretary, furnish the Secretary with the social security number of any dependent or beneficiary on whose behalf, or based upon whom, such person applies for or is in receipt of such benefit. A person is not required to furnish the Secretary with a social security number for any person to whom a social security number has not been assigned. 38 U.S.C. § 5101(c)(1). If a claimant’s application for a benefit under the laws administered by the Secretary is incomplete, the Secretary shall notify the claimant and the claimant’s representative, if any, of the information necessary to complete the application. 38 U.S.C. § 5102(b). If information that a claimant and the claimant’s representative, if any, are notified under subsection (b) is necessary to complete an application is not received by the Secretary within one year from the date such notice is sent, no benefit may be paid or furnished by reason of the claimant’s application. 38 U.S.C. § 5102(c). Except as otherwise provided by law, a claimant has the responsibility to present and support a claim for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary. 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (a). In Sharp v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 267, 276 (2009), the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) held that the effective date for additional compensation for dependents shall be the same date as the rating decision giving rise to such entitlement, irrespective of any previous grant of section 1115 benefits, if proof of dependents is submitted within one year of notice of the rating action. While the Court held that there can be “multiple rating decisions that establish entitlement to additional dependency compensation,” the Court still required that proof of dependent status be submitted within one year of notice of rating action. Id. Dependent compensation benefits were ultimately awarded to the appellant in Sharp on the effective date of the applicable rating increase. 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. Here, the Veteran contends that she is entitled to an effective date prior to January 15, 2013, for additional dependency benefits. She seeks an effective date of December 2011, the date of her marriage to M.S., for the addition of her spouse as her dependent to her award of VA disability compensation. In this case, the Veteran was awarded a 30 percent rating for allergy-induced asthma, effective September 30, 1997, in a July 1998 rating decision. Thus, this rating decision established the Veteran’s eligibility for additional compensation for dependents. The Board finds no basis under the law to award an effective date earlier than January 25, 2013 for the addition of M.S. as the Veteran’s dependent to her award of VA disability compensation. The Veteran had one year from her December 2011 marriage to notify VA of her marriage in order for the date of claim to be considered the date of marriage.” However, the Veteran did not inform VA of her marriage to M.S. until January 15, 2013, which is outside that one-year period. There is nothing in the record prior to that date that would serve to inform VA of the Veteran’s marriage to M.S. As such, the RO has already assigned the earliest possible effective date for the addition of M.S. as the Veteran’s dependent to her award of VA disability compensation. Consequently, there is no legal basis upon which to grant an effective date prior to January 15, 2013, for the addition of M.S as the Veteran’s dependent to her award of VA disability compensation. The Board sympathizes with the Veteran regarding the inequities she believes result in not being entitled to those dependents benefits at an earlier time. However, 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 (2012); see also Harvey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 416, 425 (1994). The Board further observes that “no equities, no matter how compelling, can create a right to payment of the United States Treasury which has not been provided for by Congress.” See Smith v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 429, 432-33 (1992), citing Office of Personnel Management v. Richmond, 496 U.S. 414, 426 (1990). The Board is bound by the law governing the assignment of effective dates in its determination in this case. See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(c). Based on the foregoing, the claim of entitlement to an effective date prior to January 15, 2013, for the addition of M.S. as the Veteran’s dependent to her award of VA disability compensation must be denied. S. B. MAYS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Thomas, Associate Counsel