Citation Nr: 21021793 Decision Date: 04/14/21 Archive Date: 04/14/21 DOCKET NO. 16-15 873A DATE: April 14, 2021 ORDER The propriety of the termination of nonservice-connected pension benefits between July 1, 2010, and April 1, 2012, is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran is in receipt of a 70 percent disability rating for his service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) effective March 17, 2010, which is the date of receipt of his claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits and predates the termination of benefits effective July 1, 2010. CONCLUSION OF LAW The claim for nonservice-connected pension is moot.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1513, 1521, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102, 3.151 (2020).   REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from August 1989 to August 1993. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2011 decision, which granted nonservice-connected pension effective March 17, 2010 (payments beginning April 1, 2010), and terminated the benefits July 1, 2010, due to excessive income. Nonservice-connected pension benefits were reinstated effective April 1, 2012, and terminated again effective February 8, 2013. See February 2013 notification letter. In August 2013, the termination date was changed to February 1, 2015. In December 2015, as will be discussed in greater detail below, the Veteran’s benefit changed to compensation effective September 1, 2014. The issue on appeal has been recharacterized accordingly. The Veteran presented testimony before the Board in February 2021. The claims of service connection for hearing loss, a skin disability, and bilateral hand disabilities will be the subject of a separate decision. Nonservice-Connected Pension Benefits VA will award nonservice-connected disability pension benefits to a wartime veteran who has the requisite service and who is permanently and totally disabled. Basic entitlement exists if a veteran: (1) served in the active military, naval or air service for ninety days or more during a period of war; (2) is permanently and totally disabled from non-service-connected disability not due to his or her own willful misconduct, or aged 65 or over; and (3) meets the net worth requirements under 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.274, 3.275, and has an annual income that does not exceed the applicable maximum annual pension rate (MAPR). 38 U.S.C. §§ 1502, 1521, 1522; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.3, 3.23. On March 17, 2010, the Veteran filed claims for service connection and nonservice-connected pension.  Service connection has been established for PTSD. See April 2015 Rating Decision. In December 2015, the Veteran was notified that his benefits were changed to compensation effective September 1, 2014, the original effective date for the award of service connection for PTSD. In March 2016, the effective date for the award of service connection for PTSD was made retroactive to March 17, 2010, the date of claim. Effective March 17, 2010, the Veteran is in receipt of a 70 percent disability rating for his service-connected PTSD, which is the date of receipt of his claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits and predates the termination of such benefits effective July 1, 2010.  See March 2016 Rating Code Sheet.   A claim by a veteran for compensation may be considered to be a claim for pension; and a claim by a veteran for pension may be considered to be a claim for compensation. 38 C.F.R. § 3.151 (a). The greater benefit will be awarded unless the claimant specifically elects the lesser benefit. Id.   Disability compensation at the rating percentage noted above, rated 70 percent effective March 17, 2010, (currently 100 percent from December 2, 2020), is greater than the rate payable for nonservice-connection pension. See January 2021 Rating Code Sheet. Therefore, as the Veteran’s service-connected disability benefits represent a greater award, the claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits is considered moot and must be dismissed. Id.   J.W. FRANCIS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K. L. Wallin, 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.