Citation Nr: 21071025
Decision Date: 11/29/21	Archive Date: 11/29/21

DOCKET NO. 19-08 541
DATE: November 29, 2021

ORDER

Having been withdrawn, the appeal as to whether the Veteran is competent to handle disbursement of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) funds is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

In several signed statements dated September 2020 through November 2020, the Veteran requested a withdrawal of his appeal. 

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for withdrawal of the appeal regarding whether the Veteran is competent to handle disbursement of VA funds have been met.  38 U.S.C. § 7104, 7105 (2018); 38 C.F.R. § 19.55 (2020).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran, who is the appellant, had active service in the U.S. Marine Corps from November 1968 to September 1972.  This matter is on appeal from a November 2018 rating decision. In December 2019, the Board remanded the appeal for further development.

Having been withdrawn, the appeal as to whether the Veteran is competent to handle disbursement of VA funds is dismissed.

The Board may dismiss any appeal which fails to allege specific error of fact or law in the determination being appealed.  38 U.S.C. § 7105.  An appeal may be withdrawn as to any or all issues involved in the appeal at any time before the Board promulgates a decision.  38 C.F.R. § 19.55.  Withdrawal may be made by the appellant or by his or her authorized representative.  Id.  

Between September 2020 and November 2020, prior to the promulgation of this appeal, the Veteran submitted several signed statements to the Board indicating that he wished to withdraw his appeal regarding competency. He explained that he did not want to be his own payee, he prefers to have a fiduciary, he is 100 percent service-connected (for schizoaffective disorder), and he heard voices. These communications include the Veteran's name and applicable file number, and they specify that he wanted to stop/drop/cancel/withdraw the appeal. The Board finds that the Veteran has withdrawn this appeal and, hence, there remain no allegations of errors of fact or law for appellate consideration. 

The Board acknowledges that the Veteran's representative filed an informal hearing presentation (IHP) in October 2021 that addresses the issue of whether the Veteran is competent to handle disbursement of VA funds. However, the IHP does not address the Veteran's written withdrawals and is not a revocation of those withdrawals. Moreover, the Board is under no obligation to further adjudicate an appeal that has been withdrawn. Hanson v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 29, 32 (1996) ("When claims are withdrawn, they cease to exist."). Withdrawal of an appeal also operates as a withdrawal of the notice of disagreement. See 38 C.F.R. § 19.55 (c). VA regulations permit claimants to renew appeals that they previously withdrew by filing a new notice of disagreement as long as the new notice of disagreement would have been timely (filed within one year of the applicable rating decision) had the withdrawn appeal never been withdrawn. Id. VA regulations do not provide a mechanism for renewing an appeal by filing an IHP directly to the Board.

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Accordingly, the Board does not have jurisdiction to review the appeal and it is dismissed.

 

 

Rebecca N. Poulson

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Roya Bahrami, 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.