Citation Nr: 21065492 Decision Date: 10/26/21 Archive Date: 10/26/21 DOCKET NO. 18-47 227 DATE: October 26, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to the payment of accrued benefits prior to April 1, 2017 is denied. FINDING OF FACT VA received a formal claim for compensation benefits on March 14, 2017 and there is no evidence of any unadjudicated formal or informal claim for compensation benefits prior to that date. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for the award of accrued benefits prior to April 1, 2017, have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5101(a), 5110(a), 5112(a), 5121 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.31(a), 3.400, 3.1000 (2020). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from August 1952 to August 1972. He died in November 2017. The Appellant is his surviving spouse. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2018 decision which granted payment of accrued benefits from April 1, 2017 in the amount of $7,578.84. Entitlement to an effective date prior to April 1, 2017 for the payment of accrued benefits. The Appellant contends that an earlier effective date is warranted for the payment of accrued benefits. Specifically, she contends that benefits should be paid from March 14, 2017. She does not contend that the payment of accrued benefits in the amount of $7,578.84 from April 1, 2017 was incorrect. Accrued benefits are defined as periodic monetary benefits authorized under law administered by VA, to which a payee was entitled at his or her death under existing ratings or decisions or those based on evidence in the file at the date of death, and due and unpaid. 38 U.S.C. § 5121; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000. In order to support a claim for accrued benefits, the Veteran or other payee must have had a claim pending at the time of his or her death for such benefits or else be entitled to them under an existing rating or decision. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5101(a), 5121(a); Jones v. West, 136 F.3d 1299 (Fed. Cir. 1998). Accrued benefits may only be awarded on the basis of the evidence in the file at the Veteran's date of death. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000(a). "Evidence in the file at date of death" means evidence in VA's possession on or before the date of the Veteran's death, even if such evidence was not physically located in the VA claims folder on or before the date of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000(d)(4). Therefore, the evidence that will be considered by the Board in this case is limited to that which was in VA's possession up to the date of the Veteran's death in November 2017. Here, the Veteran filed VA Form 21-526EZ (Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits) on March 14, 2017. In a July 2017 rating decision, VA granted compensation benefits, effective March 14, 2017. In a July 2017 notification letter, VA informed the Veteran that he would be paid beginning August 1, 2017, and that payments from April 1, 2017 through July 1, 2017 would be withheld pending appointment of a VA fiduciary. The Veteran died in November 2017, prior to the appointment of his VA fiduciary. In January 2018, the Appellant filed a claim for accrued benefits. In an August 2018 decision, VA granted the Appellant accrued benefits in the amount of $7,578.84 based on four months (April 1, May 1, June 1, and July 1) of withheld payments in the amount of $1,894.71 each month. The Appellant does not dispute the amount paid from April 1, 2017. Rather, she contends that accrued benefits should be paid from March 14, 2017, or the date of the Veteran's claim. Generally, the effective date of an evaluation and award of pension, compensation or dependency and indemnity compensation based on an original claim, a claim reopened after final disallowance, or a claim for increase will be the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. 38 U.S.C. § 5110(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400. Here, the Veteran submitted his compensation claim on March 14, 2017. A review of the record reveals no other unadjudicated formal or informal claims for compensation benefits prior to March 14, 2017. Therefore, the earliest effective date for the award of compensation benefits is March 14, 2017. With respect to the effective date for the start of payments of the Veteran's compensation benefits, as applicable to this case, regardless of VA regulations concerning effective dates of awards, payment of monetary benefits based on original, reopened, or increased awards of compensation, pension or dependency and indemnity compensation may not be made for any period prior to the first day of the calendar month following the month in which the award became effective. 38 C.F.R. § 3.31(a). As explained above, March 14, 2017 is the earliest possible effective date for the award of the Veteran's compensation benefits. Therefore, April 1, 2017 is the earliest date on which such benefits were payable. Accordingly, an effective date of March 14, 2017 for the payment of accrued benefits is not warranted. The law is dispositive of the issue on appeal, and the Appellant's claim must be denied because of the absence of legal merit or entitlement under the law. Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426, 430 (1994). Based on the undisputed facts of this case, the Appellant is not entitled to payment of accrued pension benefits prior to April 1, 2017. 38 U.S.C. § 5121; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000. The Board is sympathetic to the Appellant's argument but is bound by the law and is without authority to grant an appeal on an equitable basis. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 503, 7104. K. Parakkal Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board S. Owen, 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.