Citation Nr: 21068601
Decision Date: 11/10/21	Archive Date: 11/10/21

DOCKET NO. 18-43 217
DATE: November 10, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to recognition of L.L. as the Veteran's surviving spouse is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active duty service from January 1943 to September 1943.  He died in January 1998.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an August 2017 determination of a Regional Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that denied the appellant's claim for VA survivors' benefits.

The Board previously considered this matter in May 2020 and noted that the claims file included evidence that the appellant may have been in receipt of benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) due to her relationship with the Veteran.  Accordingly, it remanded the matter to obtain the appellant's federal records from SSA, including any records relating to a determination that the appellant and the Veteran were married and that she was entitled to SSA benefits relating to that relationship as a spouse or widow of the Veteran.

Pursuant to the Board remand, VA sent SSA two letters from May 2020 and June 2020 asking that agency for the records identified in the May 2020 remand.  No response to either letter was received.  VA also requested the appellant's "SSA Medical Records" through a government-to-government web service.  Unlike the letters, this request received a response from the SSA National Records Center the following day indicating the appellant's medical records had been destroyed.

The appellant's medical records are not substantially relevant to the present inquiry regarding the nature of her relationship to the Veteran.  Rather, the Board's adjudication would be much more greatly assisted by the SSA determination and underlying records relating to any potential marriage between the appellant and the Veteran.  It was those records that the Board sought in its remand and there now appears a method by which VA may obtain a response from SSA regarding the presence or availability of records.  As such, the Board finds that VA has not yet discharged its duties in assisting the appellant in the development of her claim and has not substantially complied with the Board's remand by failing to utilize that interagency record request system to obtain any available SSA records relating to any potential marriage.  An additional remand is required for corrective action.  Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998) (holding that a remand by the Board confers the right to compliance with remand orders).  

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The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

1. Contact SSA using the method from May 6, 2020, that resulted in the negative response regarding available medical records.  In using this method, request all non-medical records of the appellant in SSA's possession that relate to any marital relationship she has had, to include any relationship with the Veteran and any determination that the appellant was entitled to SSA widow benefits and any underlying records relating to that determination.

 

 

M. Tenner

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	B. Whitelaw, 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.