midnight340

Glad you've had some movement of your claim. It shouldn't be long at this point, so keep us posted and Good Luck!!! -Midnight

Berta and John, thank you for the continued discussion of this. In my case I am checking to see if there is any relevant paperwork that had been done. But even if I cannot do anything in regards to my mother's DIC, maybe this will prompt someone to look into this for their parents, or clarify what needs to be done for their own family's possible survivors benefits.

John, I don't think he died as result of SC condition. But then, since he and mom would never talk about it, I have yet to find out what condition he was 100% SC for. I assume it may have been PTSD as he fits the profile well. He got SC late in life due to the efforts of some young person at the Reg. Office. My brother is trying to locate paperwork to clarify some of these things.

JR Reihs: I had thought of the letter, and may see if a copy still exists... Berta: If I read the above correctly, I am understanding that because I am not any longer a "child," and because there was a failure to apply for benefits while my mother was alive, there is not much chance the estate can do anything about the missed benefits after her death. (other than some possible burial benefits?)

I am co-executor for the estate, so do have standing. My father was a lifetime member of the Am. Legion, and my mother a member of the auxiliary. (Don't know if these matter or not.) Locally the AL has some good people, and they were of great assistance to me early on... before I had to educate myself (mostly here) and do most everything myself. I will get in touch with local AL and report back. Since my father was already getting 100% there should be no question there. My mother did spend the two + years (after my father died) in a nursing home.

I originally assumed she should have gotten benefits, but is this something she would have had to formally apply for in order to be eligible? If so, then it is probably too late to do anything now... Still, I wanted to get some expert advice. I am told that the attorney that handled things after my father passed away did write the VA to find out about benefits for her, but never received an answer. (Why does this not surprise any of us?!!!) I have lost track of my veterans and survivors benefits booklet... and am having a hard time finding clarification on all this. Any help is appreciated.

Greetings All, I have been absent for some time from this site, but have been so grateful for all the assistance helping me get my disability. My question now has to do with my mother's benefits. She passed away about 10 days ago. My father had been on 100% as a WWII vet, and he died a little over two years ago. I just found out from my brother that the VA quit paying my mother any benefits at all upon my father's death. So this would have been about 26 months of benefits. Is there anything I can do about this now that she is gone? We have medical and care bills and if there is any chance to getting the benefits that she should have been paid, it would help my siblings and me a lot. I am hoping someone can give me some guidance here. Thanks. -Midnight (edit) I want to add that my father had been receiving 100% disability from the VA for well over 10 years.

Lady Sailor, Congrats!!! And you are right, persistence wins in the end. Just gotta hang in there. I'm just about 4-5 months since getting my 100% and I swear I'm still trying to comprehend it, actually believe I made it through all the process. I am truly happy for you. The Success Stories were my inspiration... and now you're one of them. Way to go!!

Congratulations! May this be a great help to you... and yes, continue with the process to get you and your family the 100% if you can. I too have been extremely impressed with the people I have worked with at my Va med center, mostly in the mental health programs, but also the medical personnel. I know it isn't that way for everyone, but there is good care much of the time. There is no denying the claims process sucks and is tough to go through. Everyone hang in there and keep fighting for what you deserve.

Alright, alright!!! congrats on the fast response, and enjoy.

Papa.... I can tell you this... I have seen almost every sentence in their response used in the responses they sent me. Which tells me that most of it is basically computer generated standard form responses. The exceptions are those sentences that you are concerned about. It sounds like they may have completed the development actions, but have not moved your claim to the next phase yet. But any response that says that they have completed something is at least hopeful, just as any movement because it means somebody is at least doing something. I believe in keeping a thread of hope going, but tempered with as much patience as you can muster. Good luck.

Having just gone through a year and a half of this kind of continued hell, I certainly understand.... but I'd say that if all of you are confused or worried, or can't make sense of what is going on, then it's highly likely there is nothing to worry about. They just screwed up again with the system!!!! Which makes it sorta normal... sad as that is! Don't they ever test anything, or think about the effect it will have on lives before they start trying things that may not work??? Hang tight and they will probably get it worked out shortly.

Congrats from me as well, lysol !!!!!

Moody.... wishing you luck!!!! I believe things will usually move fairly quickly at this point. BrokenButFighting... If yours has been sitting at pending decision approval for a year, then I'd suggest sending IRIS inquiries fairly often, and finding somebody who can check into this for you.... ask folks at your VA med center and find out who is known to be good at helping with claims, then tell them the situation.

Yoopergirl, my claim moved at about the same speed, with retro similar and there was no hold up. Wishing you luck. Have you checked the letter generator on ebenefits???

Wishing you and your family the best!! Live long and prosper!

Who can tell.... but keep us posted, and I hope it moves fast for you this time!!

From everything I read here it is really hard to tell, but my feeling is that if your claim is moving about it is a LOT better than sitting in a pile somewhere waiting to be looked at... or simply forgotten about. Sounds like a decision might have been made, then at the approval stage it was decided to go back and review some aspect of your claim. Wishing you luck!

You can never count on anything of course... but I'd say that's a good sign. My claim took approximately 2 weeks once it moved to Preparation for Decision. Good luck!

I am happy for you. Congratulations!

Checking in I just realized this is an old thread that I started way back in January while waiting for the first VARO decision. Reminded me of how painful it was throughout those times, (but am now 100% letting relief soak in.) Bigred122, I agree using IRIS can't hurt... and it's good that you can print responses and save paper copies as you go. Just want to wish you luck. Keep working on it from every angle you can. (lots of tips here on hadit.)

Complex = lots more to do! I initially filed with help from the state commission on vets affairs, and the guy wrote it up with a whole lot of claims... depression, anxiety, back problems, sleep problems... on and on. This was not smart, it just confuses the raters (it shouldn't but it does...) I eventually filed for reconsideration after being denied outright. On the second round, I had some assistance from a social worker in the PTSD unit who focused on this. When I was finally awarded, it was for PTSD solely. All else either fell under this category or was ignored. So, yes, simple and bare bones probably stands a better chance. If the rater is very responsible and attentive, and there are lots of contentions, then they have to follow through on a number of things, C&Ps for several issues, etc. If they are NOT as responsible as they should be it just looks like work! I would say, don't ignore serious issues, but it is probably to your benefit to keep it as simple as possible.

OK... I go to the Topeka VA Med Center and talk to quite a few people there, as well as representatives from the American Legion. The word is that Wichita sucks! Now I don't mean to be negative, but expect to have to do your work. Nothing will happen automatically or fast... but on the other hand, personally, I did get proper response out of them. I filed early 2011 (mostly PTSD) and waited for about 8-9 months, while sending in more information as I learned what was required. Then I wrote a letter asking to be considered a "hardship" case (bankruptcy and foreclosure, living with someone else, no funds, etc.) which they acknowledged, but not much happened. As one year approached, I wrote further letters "reminding" them of my case. They did make a decision and I was denied one year after initial claim... due to the rater apparently not even reading anything very closely.) I requested a "reconsideration" based on advice from some good reps at American Legion here in Kansas. This was sent in February of 2012. Watching ebenefits, my claim finally began moving by June and July. On first of August I was awarded 100% permanent and total. All in all, this is not a bad performance level for VAROs. I know the error rate is something like 20-30% for most VAROs, but try to remember that 70-80% of the time they DO get it right and come through for the vets. Sucks, but keep the faith and hang in there. Get your facts straight, get all the documentation you can, get "buddy letters" if possible, and send very full information about everything. It helps a lot to have someone else help you organize. DO NOT turn over responsibility to someone else and forget it. You have to do your part, or have someone close to you help if you can't do this yourself. You have to stay on it. Remember that you deserve this for service you gave to your country. It is their system, set up this way... make it work for you. The system DOES work in most cases... it just takes longer than it should. Keep the Faith!

You are at the right place, listen to the folks here and keep posting everything! Do not give up, do not ease up on this. You deserve better than the treatment so far. Hang in there, and keep at it. Good luck.

Congratulations!!!!! My claim took 17 months for same result.... I kept trying to remember that even if they do screw up 30% of the time (or whatever percentage), that the rest of the time they DO get it right. Way to go. You deserve it!!!