Compensation For Common-law Spouse And Stepchildren

[Draggin']

I was rated last April and began to recieve pay for myself only.

My wife and children, who were listed and had verification provided for on the forms, were not included in the compensation.

They all live in the home with me and have done so for over 5 years. They are supposed to be counted as my spouse and dependants.

After loosing our paperwork between last April and last December, we finally recieve word in December that VA needs more information to verify our common-law marriage.

We send in the statements requested. Statements from people who know us and we have been "married" around. VA already has our tax returns.

Still nothing. I call at least weekly.

We began working with an OEF/OIF represenative in Dallas VA. She calls to check on this and now they said they need for US to sign a statement.

So we fax her the requested statement (VA provided sheet). She calls them to check again. Now they say we EACH need to send in a statement. We say OK. We later realize that this statement has a signature space for "veteran" me, and "spouse" my wife. They would be getting an exact copy of the same paper if this were the case. So we inform our represenative in Dallas over voicemail and have not heard back yet due to it being the weekend.

They owe 12+ months in back pay for my wife, my daughters and my mother-in law and they seem to be dragging their feet. Loosing things, not knowing what they need, etc.

The OEF/OIF represenative from the Dallas VA seems disturbed that this has drug on for over a year. We have been faxing her info and she has been getting answers within days. She says she is speaking with someone who is working on the claim.

Any advice? We've been waiting for this for a very long time.

Thanks

Draggin'

[Berta]

I thought you meant by 'board' the BVA- but after checking another post I see you mean Review board at the VARO.

I apologize- because you have NOT been denied for PTSD- Yes -as OIF OEF vet -you should receive priority treatment- but it is still difficult to know how long the claim will take-

as long as you sent them all they asked for-I would hang in there at this point-

my other reply might help someone else so I didn't delete it-

The VCAA is the greatest Duty to Assist benefit we ever got from VA and the VAROs have screwed it up so much that it has added to the backlog.

BTW I need to remind- the common law status is exceptable for VA purposes if the veteran and common law spouse live in a common law state.

I dont know what those states are but they will pop up under a google for common law marriages.

[carlie]

We were told they had 30 days to decide on the PTSD after my C&P exam, not sure if it's because it's been over a year since we filed the claim or if that is normal procedure. We've also been told my friends here to not expect a decision that soon.

Draggin'

Draggin,

Just so you're not disappointed - I would not count AT ALL on this

30 day time frame.

jmho,

carlie

[hawkfire27]

Well I don't know much about common law spouses within the VA , but I was married to my husband and supplied the marriage cert and previous divorce papers and depndant info and it still took them over 7 months to get me added to my husband check. If it takes that long with a marriage cert. I'm not surprised it taking longer without one.

Just keep checking on the status with the VA, next time you are near a benefits counter at the VAMC or VARO stop by and check where it is at. They can tell you if there is anything they are waiting on. If not it just a matter of time.

Good Luck

[Draggin']

An update on the marital status problem

I've been speaking directly with someone in "Inquiry" in Waco, Tx. about this. We are in TExas. He does return my calls most of the time. Recently, he explained that they seemed to not have the marriage information and that it was in my file. He said as soon as he could get to my file (literally in his hand) and look, that he would run the information to that floor that deals with it personally. A few days later, we checked on this and he said he could not get to my file with the marriage information because it was literally on the rater's desk (for a PTSD claim). We (wife and I) now don't believe that was the case, but anywho...

My wife had the idea that if they just need the paperwork in the correct department, why don't we just fax it to the inquiry person we're dealing with and have it run it up there, since he volunteered to do so.

We did and he said he took it up there. We believe this did happen (more on that in a second). We spoke with him and he said it was there and they should start working on it. He keeps saying that it should only take a couple of weeks to update my marital status once they have the paperwork. (Story is they still didn't have it or have access to it so that was the hold up)

It's been a couple of weeks and he has not returned our calls. On our last trip to the outpatient center in Fort Worth, we visited with the OEF/OIF people and they referred us to someone else in the building who could see our info (as all the OEF/OIF dept could see was my medical info). Forgot what his title was, sorry, too many people.

The gentleman we spoke with was very short with us. He said we should send our information in with an explanation as to the problem. We explained that we've already faxed and sent paper copies numerous times over the last few months and weeks. He said he believed us and that there was nothing to do.

He kept looking though, and he said that it looked as though there was no claim for marital and dependants made...BUT he did see that they were working on trying to verify a marriage/dependant claim. Magical, huh?!!!

We explained to him that when we got our award letter, it specifically said they could not pay for the wife and kids until we sent in "xx" documents. How there is no record of a claim showing up is beyond us, as even the VA sent verification in writing in this award packet, that they had received our marriage information and needed additional information. He said he'd check into it and give us a call.

He also said that the claim had been sent to Nebraska. I asked, frustrated, "Now why would they do that?". This is where he got rude and said, "Sir, I don't have that answer." and snubbed me. Arrrghhh. My wife then asked calmly, the same damn question in different words, and he answered that they sent it elsewhere so that it evens things out...not too many claims in one place, to make it quicker. He then told me that I should consider it "Money in the bank..", that they have to back pay for this, and to wait. Yeah, sure.

I'm assuming they sent this out so that they could deal with the pending PTSD claim. According to the numerous people we've spoken with, the PTSD claim has gone to the rating board, been pulled out for further verification, and is now elsewhere. (I have a separate post here concerning this original PTSD claim.) We have no idea where the marital/dependant issues are getting worked out, but we assume it's in Nebraska, which means the person in Waco will not be as much help to us???

I am tired of dealing with people that are getting nothing done and are jerks to me for no good reason. It's been over a year since I was awarded. They can't even finish this part. I soon have to send in appeals for the things that were denied or were rated far too low...but am concerned that this will just bog things down worse. Regardless these appeals have to be done.

In the meantime, what can I do...what are my next steps to get them to move on this?

Thanks

Draggin'

[Pete53]

Waco is a little over an hour away from Ft Worth. If this was me I would gather the wife and kids and the copies of forms and head for Waco VARO and go there and ask to see a Councilor and get this mess straightened out.

As a guess I am willing to bet that your paper work has been misplaced.So to get you out of their hair they tell you they will fix it in 3 or 4 weeks and forget it the second they hang up.

[Draggin']

Sounds like an excellent idea Pete.

Waco is a little over an hour away from Ft Worth. If this was me I would gather the wife and kids and the copies of forms and head for Waco VARO and go there and ask to see a Councilor and get this mess straightened out.

As a guess I am willing to bet that your paper work has been misplaced.So to get you out of their hair they tell you they will fix it in 3 or 4 weeks and forget it the second they hang up.