ArNG11

Gastone, a comment on this, why is it that so many times the VA doesn't follow the law or regulation and have no accountability for breaking the law at the detriment of Veterans. Whether infered or not the VA has the obligation of Duty to Assist and in affording the highest possible rating to the Veteran that his or her disability allows and qualifies for. Then again that is like asking what is wrong with the VA. Too long of an exhaustive list to mention or write down.

This is awesome info you guys and tk3000 I hope that this goes as the regulations state. Inferred and duty to assist is what is coming to mind here with me. Oh and that regulation somewhere about the affording the veteran the highest possible rating which he or she qualifies for.

Ouch, where were these numbers gotten from, is that accurate ?

Wow thats fast. Great news and fast. Congrats.

Buck I have to say a documented police report is worth a great deal. This was just in my case and predicament. Details have immense power when coupled with the right medical records and police reports. A young Captain who was treating me at Tinker never correctly documented my medical records. I know this because I could not find any instance of our discussion relating to this incident. They were not in my records with this doctor. It was here at this point that I gave up on the VA and military based care. (This is just my experience, I have received excellent care from on-base doctors at times, just not this particular one for mental health). I believe it was that police report that changed the outcome of my mental health claim.

I believe you hit the nail right on the head. Can't be accountable for something you were not aware was happening. At least on paper a person would deny that they were unaware of what was happening.

Heh Remember it is your claim, your the boss, if you don't feel right about his or her decision ask questions and clarify things before moving forward. When I was represented my attorney advised me and I disagreed. I only disagreed because I had evidence that he was not considering would be of much help, I thought it would collaborate older records that were stating what I was arguing. I happened to be right so I call it a success. Mind you I argued because I knew the evidence was there and I knew the details of that evidence were vital. It was a gamble but it was how I felt. Fortunately it worked out for me. Not always going to be the case. Emotions can cloud judgement. Every situation is unique but if you feel strongly about something and the ducks are in a row. I would consider decisions more carefully.

I'm late on the congrats, but nice to read about the good news. Way to go and way to staying true to your claim.

Come on Andy, it might be sooner maybe 2019. Bad joke. Just keep at it brother. Just keep at it. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

I felt I needed to Buck, talking about running around like a chicken with their head cut off. Taxes can be a real " challenge". There are dozens of rules and tax regulations that apply to forgiveness of debt due to disability. Sadly each state also has their own mechanism when dealing with forgiven debt due to disability and so does the Federal Government. I advocate to read up on these particular laws as tax burdens can be lessened quite a bit. Knowledge is power. Hope it can be of good use to Veterans and their families.

I wanted to sort of update this as it has been mentioned in other post about the tax implications of student loan forgiveness. The taxes that play in that forgiveness can be substantial. It will be counted as income. My loan forgiveness was 44k. Thats a pretty big chunk of taxable income. I thought I was in serious trouble with taxes. I was actually going to owe 9k to federal and 1k to state. There is a remedy to this and it is insolvency. You can file the form yourself through a program like Turbo tax and such, usually most say Home and business Taxes. I could not find and online version or access to this process without buying the program in CD format. Form 982 and insolvency worksheets. It is a bit troublesome however, it will save you tons. In my case it did. Basically it looks at your financial picture before the student loan pay off, and sees if you were upside down. Owe debt more than your assets combined. It is definitely worth the investment and definitely needed information to be considered before going through the student loan forgiveness process. I was trying to find a post on here that discussed it as well but couldn't find it offhand, however, I do recall folks talking to me and others about where to seek advice. In any case a tax attorney, an accountant, and other folks experience helped immensely. Im not sure about other tax programs but I imagine that they would have access to the same forms, perhaps in deluxe or professional versions of their software. Also it is worth a person's while to talk to a tax attorney and/or accountant as they are the experts in these types of situations. Hope that this is of some help to folks on here.

Andy I concur with Buck. Hang in there and see your claim through. The evidence will ultimately win your claim.