Citation Nr: 21069963
Decision Date: 11/22/21	Archive Date: 11/22/21

DOCKET NO. 15-19 874
DATE: November 22, 2021

REMANDED

Recognition as a helpless child of the Veteran for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) purposes is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from March 1942 to December 1944.  He died in December 2000.  The appellant claims for benefits as the Veteran's daughter.

This case has a procedural history which includes prior Board Decisions and a Joint Motion for Remand and a Memorandum Decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). 

Helpless Child

The appellant has sought designation as a helpless child to establish VA benefits. In submissions to the Court in October 2020, the appellant requested a VA examination regarding her status as a helpless child by the time she turned 18. The Court's April 2021 Memorandum Decision also directed the Board to address the appellant's request for a VA examination on remand. 

Upon review, the Board finds that a remand is needed to comply with the Memorandum Decision as well as the appellant's wishes.

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Schedule the appellant for an appropriate VA examination as to her claim for entitlement to helpless child benefits on the basis of a child's permanent incapacity for self-support prior to attaining the age of 18. 

The examiner must opine as to whether it is at least as likely as not that the appellant became permanently incapable of self-support by reason of a mental or physical condition prior to attaining 18 years of age. 

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(The term "at least as likely as not" does not mean within the realm of medical possibility, but rather that the medical evidence both for and against a conclusion is so evenly divided that it is as medically sound to find in favor of a certain conclusion as it is to find against it.) 

A clear rationale for all opinions would be helpful and a discussion of the facts and medical principles involved would be of considerable assistance to the Board. Because it is important "that each disability be viewed in relation to its history [,]" 38 C.F.R. § 4.1, copies of all pertinent records in the appellant's claims file, specifically including SSA records, or in the alternative, the claims file, must be made available to the examiner for review.

 

 

JOHN Z. JONES

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. Parrish, 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.