Citation Nr: 20002322 Decision Date: 01/10/20 Archive Date: 01/10/20 DOCKET NO. 14-42 071 DATE: January 10, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to VA benefits on the basis of permanent incapacity for self-support prior to attaining the age of 18 years is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served honorably in the United States Army from March 1943 to August 1946. The Veteran died in September 1995. The Appellant is the Veteran’s daughter. This issue comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a October 2013 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Appellant seeks recognition as a helpless child for the purposes of VA benefits on the basis that she became permanently incapable of self-support before attaining the age of 18 years. The claim was received in August 2013. The Board notes that the Appellant is currently 60 years of age. Improved death pension is a benefit payable to a veteran’s surviving child because of the veteran’s nonservice-connected death. Basic entitlement exists if (i) the veteran served for ninety days or more during a period of war; or (ii) was, at the time of death, receiving or entitled to receive compensation or retirement pay for a service-connected disability; and (iii) the surviving child meets the net worth requirements and has an annual income not in excess of the maximum annual pension rate (MAPR). 38 U.S.C. §§ 101 (8), 1521(j), 1541(a); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.3 (b)(4); 3.24. Generally, an individual is a child of a veteran if he or she is the biological or adopted child or stepchild of the veteran, and is an unmarried person who either: is (1) under the age of 18; (2) “shown to [have been] permanently incapable of self-support by reason of mental or physical defect at the date of attaining the age of 18 years;” or (3) after attaining the age of 18 years and until completion of education or training (but not after attaining the age of 23 years), is pursuing a course of instruction at an approved educational institution. 38 U.S.C. § 101 (4)(A)(ii) (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.57, 3.356 (2018); Dobson v. Brown, 4 Vet. App. 443, 445 (1993). The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has held that, in “helpless child” cases, the focus must be on the child’s condition at the time of his or her eighteenth birthday. Id. A remand is necessary to issue a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC). The record shows that, following the certification of appeal to the Board in May 2015, additional pertinent private treatment records were associated with the claims file. The RO has not readjudicated this claim nor has it issued an SSOC. An SSOC is required to ensure due process of law. 38 C.F.R. §§ 19.31, 19.37 (2018). There is no evidence in the record indicating that the Appellant has waived this right. Therefore, the Board finds a remand is necessary for the issuance of an SSOC. 38 C.F.R. §§ 19.9, 19.31 (c). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: (Continued on the next page)   1. Readjudicate the Appellant’s claim, with application of all appropriate laws and regulations. All evidence received since the October 2014 Statement of the Case should be considered along with the rest of the evidence of record. If the decision remains adverse to the Appellant, she should be furnished a supplemental statement of the case and afforded an appropriate period of time within which to respond thereto. G. A. WASIK Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J.T. Massey, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.