Citation Nr: 21040371 Decision Date: 07/03/21 Archive Date: 07/03/21 DOCKET NO. 18-01 379 DATE: July 3, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to accrued benefits is denied. FINDING OF FACT An application for accrued benefits was not received from the appellant within one year of the death of the Veteran's surviving spouse. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to accrued benefits have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 5121; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from June 1945 to August 1946. He died in October 1987. His surviving spouse was J.G., who was in receipt of special monthly pension based on the need for aid and attendance until her death in August 2015. The appellant is the granddaughter of the Veteran. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2017 rating decision of a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which denied the appellant entitlement to accrued benefits due J.G. at the time of her death. The appellant was afforded a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge in March 2021. Also present at the hearing was S.W., the son of the Veteran and J.G., the Veteran's spouse. While S.W. did not have an appeal before the Board at the time of the March 2021, he nevertheless testified before the Veterans Law Judge. Thus, although S.W.'s testimony is part of the record, the Board makes no decision or inference at this time regarding any pending claim or appeal advanced before VA by S.W. The sole party before the Board is the appellant, and the Board will only address her pending accrued benefits claim at this time. Entitlement to accrued benefits The appellant seeks any accrued benefits due and not yet paid to J.G., the Veteran's surviving spouse, who was in receipt of special monthly pension based on the need for aid and attendance rate at the time of her death in August 2015. Periodic monetary benefits payable under laws administered by VA, to which a payee was entitled at his or her death under existing ratings or decisions or those based on evidence in the file at date of death and due and unpaid, will, upon the death of such person, be paid as follows: In pertinent part, upon the death of a surviving spouse or remarried surviving spouse, to the Veteran's children. 38 U.S.C. § 5121(a)(2), (3), (5); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000(a). The controlling law with respect to accrued VA benefits provides that accrued benefits are only paid to certain recipients rather than to the payee's estate. In all other cases, only so much of the accrued benefit may be paid as necessary to reimburse the person who bore the expense of the payee's last sickness and burial. See 38 U.S.C. § 5121; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000. In the present case, the appellant claims as having borne the expense of J.G.'s last sickness and burial. Her accrued benefits claim, however, was received by VA in November 2016, more than a year after the August 2015 death of J.G. A claim for accrued benefits must be filed within a year of the date of death of the payee. 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000(c). As the claim for accrued benefits was received more than one year following the J.G.'s death, there is simply no basis for an award of accrued benefits to the appellant in this case. The Board acknowledges that multiple VA Forms 21-601, Application for Reimbursement from Accrued Amounts Due a Deceased Beneficiary, were received by VA within a year of J.G.'s death. These forms, however, were not signed by the appellant; rather, they were signed by the Veteran's son, S.W., and other family members. As such, none of these forms may not be considered as the appellant's claim. The Board makes no decision at this time regarding any claims filed by any other family members of the Veteran. Accordingly, the claim for accrued benefits must be denied as a matter of law because the appellant's claim was untimely. See Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426 (1994). M. Donohue Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Thomas D. Jones, 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.