Citation Nr: 20043553
Decision Date: 06/29/20	Archive Date: 06/29/20

DOCKET NO. 17-16 990
DATE: June 29, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to an earlier effective date for the awards of disability and indemnity compensation (DIC) benefits based on service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is remanded. 

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from May 1948 to April 1952.  The appellant is his surviving spouse. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2016 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  The Board remanded the matter for further development in November 2019.

The Veteran appellant and her daughter testified at a hearing before the undersigned in October 2019; a transcript of the hearing is of record. 

 

Effective Date of DIC Benefits  

As discussed in the Board’s November 2019 remand, the date of an application for SSA survivor’s benefits will be considered a claim for VA death benefits, and to have been received by VA as of the date of receipt by SSA.  38 C.F.R. § 3.153; Van Valkenburg v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 113, 119 (2009) (holding that “any claim, sufficient to reflect an intent to apply for survivor’s benefits, that is filed with SSA will suffice to establish the effective date for DIC”).  

Since the Board’s remand, the appellant submitted a June 2020 formal letter from SSA stating that its records showed that she applied for widow’s benefits under her deceased husband’s record on July 15, 1992.  The claim has not been readjudicated by the agency of original jurisdiction since the Board’s prior remand.  

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Readjudicate the issue of entitlement to an earlier effective date for the award of DIC benefits, with consideration of the June 2020 SSA letter stating that the appellant applied for widow’s benefits under her deceased husband’s record on July 15, 1992.  

 

 

P.M. DILORENZO

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.