Citation Nr: 21021126 Decision Date: 04/09/21 Archive Date: 04/09/21 DOCKET NO. 18-48 671 DATE: April 9, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to recognition as the Veteran’s child on the basis of permanent incapacity or self-support prior to attaining age 18 is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from September 1965 to May 1967. He passed away in June 1976. The appellant is his adult daughter. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2018 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The appellant, with the assistance of a sign language interpreter, testified at a hearing held before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in March 2021. Entitlement to recognition as the Veteran's child on the basis of permanent incapacity or self-support prior to attaining age 18 is remanded. The appellant seeks VA benefits on the basis of her status as a child of the Veteran. She asserts entitlement to benefits on the basis that she became permanently incapable of self-support due to a mental or physical disability before her eighteenth birthday as a consequence of having Neurofibromatosis type II. In support, the appellant testified that her due to her Neurofibromatosis type II she has been disabled and has needed care since she was fifteen years of age. The appellant added that he father and her mother died before her eighteenth birthday and that due to her Neurofibromatosis type II she was placed under the care of her older sister. For purposes of determining eligibility as a claimant under Title 38, a child must be unmarried and must be either under the age of 18, have become permanently incapable of self-support before the age of 18, or be between the ages of 18 and 23 and pursuing a course of instruction at an approved educational institution. 38 U.S.C. § 101(4)(A)(ii); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.57(a)(1), 3.356. As noted above, the appellant contends that she has been permanently incapable of supporting herself due to neurofibromatosis type II and the resulting disabilities, which she states was not diagnosed until after her eighteenth birthday but first caused substantial functional difficulties prior to adulthood. As a threshold matter, the record reflects that the appellant has previously been married. As noted above, recognition as a veteran’s child is available only to unmarried children. In certain circumstances, an appellant who seeks recognition as a child of a veteran may continue to be recognized as such after the termination of a marriage. At this time, there is insufficient evidence of record relating to the date the appellant was married and the nature, timing, and circumstances of the dissolution of that marriage. Such a marriage will not be a bar to benefits if it was void, if it was annulled and the annulment was not obtained through fraud or collusion, or if terminated prior to November 1, 1990, by death or divorce. 38 C.F.R. § 3.55(b). The matters are REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Notify the appellant that she may submit lay statements from herself and from other individuals who have first-hand knowledge, and/or were contemporaneously informed regarding whether she was permanently incapable of self-support prior to reaching the age of 18. The appellant should also be invited to submit medical evidence addressing whether she was permanently incapable of self-support prior to reaching the age of 18. The appellant should be provided an appropriate amount of time to submit this lay and/or medical evidence. 2. Contact the appellant and ask her to provide a statement of her marital history, to include her current marital status, the dates and locations of any past marriage(s), and the date, location, and manner of termination of her past marriage. STEVEN D. REISS 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.