Citation Nr: 20034033
Decision Date: 05/15/20	Archive Date: 05/15/20

DOCKET NO. 13-05 206
DATE: May 15, 2020

REMANDED

The issue of entitlement to an increased apportionment of the Veteran’s VA compensation benefits is remanded. 

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active military service from November 1984 to December 1987 and from May 1989 to January 1994. The appellant is the mother of the parties’ child.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2014 decision of the VA Regional Office (RO), which denied the appellant’s claim for an increased apportionment of the Veteran’s VA compensation benefits. 

The Board notes that the issue of the propriety of the amount of the apportionment awarded to the appellant is part of a different appeal stream that is being remanded simultaneously in a separate Board decision.

The issue of entitlement to an increased apportionment of the Veteran’s VA compensation benefits is remanded. 

In a June 2014 notice of disagreement, the appellant sought an apportionment amount in excess of $350.00 per month. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction never issued a statement of the case (SOC) for this claim. Accordingly, the Board takes jurisdiction over the claim for the sole purpose of remanding for issuance of an SOC. See Manlincon v. West, 12 Vet. App. 238, 240 (1999). Action on this claim may affect the current appeal.

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Provide the appellant with an SOC concerning the claim for an increased apportionment amount. The SOC must instruct the appellant to file a substantive appeal in response to the SOC to complete the steps necessary to perfect her appeal of this claim to the Board. 

 

 

A. C. MACKENZIE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Erin J. Trojanowski, 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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.