Citation Nr: 22018935 Decision Date: 03/30/22 Archive Date: 03/30/22 DOCKET NO. 20-25 555 DATE: March 30, 2022 ORDER An effective date prior to January 12, 2019 (with payment beginning on February 1, 2019) for the addition of the Veteran's spouse, A., to his award of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation, is denied. FINDING OF FACT On January 12, 2019, the Veteran first informed VA of his December 2017 marriage to A. and submitted a claim for additional VA disability compensation based on recognition of A. as his dependent spouse. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an effective date prior to January 12, 2019 for the addition of the Veteran's spouse, A., to his award of VA disability compensation, have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1115, 5110 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.4, 3.204, 3.401 (2021). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran, who is the appellant in this case, served on active duty from May 1966 to May 1970. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2019 decision of a VA Regional Office (RO). In the May 2020 substantive appeal, the Veteran requested a Board hearing. However, in August 2021, the Veteran's representative withdrew the request for a Board hearing. The Veteran has another appeal before the Board; however, as that appeal involves issues dependent on different facts and law than considered and applied herein, it will be the subject of a separate decision. The Board has limited the discussion below to the relevant evidence required to support its finding of fact and conclusion of law, as well as to the specific contentions regarding the case as raised directly by the appellant and those reasonably raised by the record. See Scott v. McDonald, 789 F.3d 1375, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2015); Robinson v. Peake, 21 Vet. App. 545, 552 (2008); Dickens v. McDonald, 814 F.3d 1359, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2016). Entitlement to an effective date prior to January 12, 2019, for the addition of the Veteran's spouse, A., to his award of VA disability compensation. Veterans who have service-connected disabilities rated as 30 percent disabling and higher may be entitled to additional compensation for dependents. 38 U.S.C. § 1115; 38 C.F.R. § 3.4(b)(2). When determining the effective date for an award of additional compensation for dependents, the effective date will be the last of the following dates: (1) the date of claim; (2) the date the dependency arises; (3) effective date of the qualifying disability rating provided evidence of dependency is received within a year of notification of such rating action; or (4) date of commencement of the service member's award. 38 C.F.R. § 3.401(b). The "date of claim" for additional compensation for a dependent spouse is the date of the Veteran's marriage, if evidence of the event is received within a year of the event; otherwise, the date notice is received of the dependent's existence, if evidence is received within a year of notification of such rating action. 38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.401. Under 38 U.S.C. § 5101(a), a specific claim must be filed in order for benefits to be paid or furnished to any individual under the laws administered by VA. See also 38 C.F.R. § 3.151(a). The Secretary has authority to prescribe the nature and extent of the proof required in order to establish a right to VA benefits. See 38 U.S.C. § 501. If a claimant's application for a benefit under the laws administered by the Secretary is incomplete, the Secretary shall notify the claimant and the claimant's representative, if any, of the information necessary to complete the application. 38 U.S.C. § 5102(b). If information that a claimant and the claimant's representative, if any, are notified under subsection (b) is necessary to complete an application is not received by the Secretary within one year from the date such notice is sent, no benefit may be paid or furnished by reason of the claimant's application. 38 U.S.C. § 5102(c). Except as otherwise provided by law, a claimant has the responsibility to present and support a claim for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(a). VA will accept, for purposes of determining entitlement to benefits under laws administered by VA, the statement of a claimant as proof of marriage, dissolution of a marriage, birth of a child, or death of a dependent, provided that the statement contains: the date (month and year) and place of the event; the full name and relationship of the other person to the claimant; and the social security number of the other person. 38 U.S.C. § 5124; 38 C.F.R. § 3.204. Here, the Veteran asserts that he is entitled to an earlier effective date for additional dependency benefits. He seeks an effective date of December 2017, the date of his marriage to A., for the addition of A. as his dependent to his award of VA disability compensation. As an initial matter, the record indicates that the Veteran has been in receipt of a disability rating in excess of 30 percent disability since November 2010. Therefore, the Veteran was entitled to additional compensation for dependents since prior to his current marriage to A. On January 12, 2019, the Veteran first informed VA of his December 2017 marriage to A., and the RO assigned an effective date of January 12, 2019 for the addition of A. as the Veteran's dependent to his award of VA disability compensation, with payment beginning on February 1, 2019, the first day of the month following the date of claim. The Board has reviewed all relevant evidence and finds no basis under the law to award an effective date earlier than January 12, 2019, for the addition of A. as the Veteran's dependent to his award of VA disability compensation. The Board recognizes that the Veteran believes his marriage date should be the effective date. The Veteran had one year from his December 2017 marriage to notify VA of the marriage in order for the date of claim to be considered the date of marriage. However, the Veteran did not inform VA of his marriage to A. until January 2019, which is well outside that one-year period. There is nothing in the record prior to that date that serves to inform VA of the Veteran's marriage to A., or could otherwise be construed as a claim for additional disability benefits based on recognition of A. as the Veteran's dependent spouse. As such, an effective date prior to January 12, 2019 for the addition of A. as the Veteran's dependent to his award of VA disability compensation is not warranted. The Board acknowledges the Veteran's representative's contentions that an earlier effective date for the addition of A. as the Veteran's dependent to his award of VA disability compensation may be warranted once his pending disability claims are granted. The Veteran has a separate appeal pending before the Board, involving numerous claims for service connection, increased disability ratings, and earlier effective dates for disability compensation awards. However, the issue addressed herein is not intertwined with the separately pending appeal involving disability compensation issues, as the decision herein is based on different law and facts. Furthermore, nothing in this decision precludes the Veteran from being awarded an effective date prior to January 12, 2019 for the addition of A. as the Veteran's dependent to his award of VA disability compensation based on future VA disability compensation awards. See generally 38 C.F.R. § 3.401. Therefore, the two appeal streams are not inextricably intertwined, and the present appeal is properly adjudicated herein. For these reasons, there is no legal basis upon which to grant an earlier effective date. The Board sympathizes with the Veteran regarding the inequities he believes result from not being entitled to those dependent benefits at an earlier time. However, the Board is bound by the law and is without authority to grant benefits on an equitable basis. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 503, 7104; Burris v. Wilkie, 888 F.3d 1352, 1358 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (holding that "§ 503 provides the Secretary with the authority to grant the precise relief that Appellants request here [payment of moneys], and the Secretary has not delegated that authority"). The Board further observes that "no equities, no matter how compelling, can create a right to payment of the United States Treasury which has not been provided for by Congress." See Smith v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 429, 432-33 (1992). The Board is bound by the law governing the assignment of effective dates in its determination in this case. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 7104(c). S. B. MAYS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Thomas, 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.