Citation Nr: 22046455
Decision Date: 08/16/22	Archive Date: 08/16/22

DOCKET NO. 19-29 331
DATE: August 16, 2022

REMANDED

The claim for entitlement to additional compensation for dependent spouse, D.N., is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1958 to January 1961.

This appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) arose from an April 2018 administrative decision in which a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) denied the Veteran's claim for additional dependency compensation for spouse D.N.  

This benefit is available to any veteran in possession of at least a 30 percent combined disability rating.  38 U.S.C. § 1115.  As the Veteran was not service connected for any disability, the Board remanded this matter in September 2020 to allow for VA to process the Veteran's claim for service connection for chronic kidney disease.  The Veteran has requested a Board hearing regarding that issue. 

In its September 2020 remand, the Board determined that the issue of entitlement to additional dependency compensation was inextricably intertwined with the service connection issue.  See Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180 (1991).  The Board now finds that it must remand the dependency compensation issue once more to allow the Veteran to attend a Board hearing regarding his claim for service connection and to issue a final decision regarding that matter.

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

After the Board has issued a final decision regarding service connection for chronic kidney disease, readjudicate the issue of entitlement to additional dependency compensation for spouse D.N.

 

 

N. Breitbach

Acting Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Whitelaw, Braden

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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.