Citation Nr: A25011237
Decision Date: 02/06/25	Archive Date: 02/06/25

DOCKET NO. 241010-480867
DATE: February 6, 2025

ORDER

Entitlement to dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

The award of service connection for cause of death provides a greater benefit than DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for dismissal of the appeal as to the matter of DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1310, 1318; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.5, 3.22.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from September 1968 to August 1972.

These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2024 notification letter of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  The appellant is the Veteran's surviving spouse.

The appellant timely appealed this decision to the Board by filing an October 2024 Form 10182 and requesting the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) Evidence Lane.  Therefore, the Board's review is limited to evidence on record at the time of the July 2024 notification letter and evidence submitted by the appellant or her representative within 90 days following receipt of VA Form 10182.

If the appellant wishes for any evidence submitted outside the evidentiary window to be considered, she may file a Supplemental Claim and submit or identify this evidence.  38 C.F.R. § 3.2501.

1. Entitlement to dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is dismissed.

DIC benefits are payable to the surviving spouse of a veteran if the veteran died from a service-connected disability.  See 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.5.  Only if an appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is denied under 38 U.S.C. § 1310, does VA have to also consider an appellant's DIC claim under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 1318.  See Timberlake v. Gober, 14 Vet. App. 122 (2000).

The RO granted entitlement to service connection for cause of death in a November 2024 rating decision.  In light of the grant of benefits for the Veteran's cause of death under 38 C.F.R. § 1310, the Board concludes that the appellant's DIC claim under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is rendered moot.  Entitlement to VA benefits under 38 C.F.R. § 1310 is the greater benefit, and it is now granted in full.  Therefore, no additional benefit (monetary or otherwise) can be gained under 38 C.F.R. § 1318, nor does any controversy remain. 

Due to the grant of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death under 38 U.S.C. § 1310, the claim of entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is moot, and the claim is hereby dismissed.

 

 

H.M. WALKER

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	AK

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.