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Is this the form I need to fill out to get my records? http://www.ssa.gov/online/ssa-3288.pdf They kind of make it sound like this is what you fill out to get records to other people, but I can't find any other forms googling.

Well I went down to ROI, and they printed a copy of my C and P out on the spot and handed it to me. So glad the VA rep was telling me it would take six months. It states that my wife pays the bills and I would need help paying them if she wasn't doing it. I don't even remember talking about bills. This is just a mess and stresses me the hell out.

I guess I need to get used to the anxiety of going to hearing, but I will request one based on so many people here saying I should. This echos the feelings I had when I opened the letter and read they wanted to rate me incompetent, and then even more so when I saw they lengths they go to try to control the money I earned putting out for my country. What really annoys me is that I don't agree all with the GAF they gave me was a 40. They said that this most closely approximates the criteria for a 70 percent disability evaluation. Then they go on to state: "A higher evaluation of 100 percent is not warranted unless the evidence shows total occupational and social impairment, due to symptoms such as: Persistent delusions or hallucinations....etc Earlier in the same letter they sent me, they said: We have assigned a 70 percent evaluation for your shizoaffective disorder based on: Persistent hallucinations Persistent delusions etc... Sounds to me like I should be 100 percent. When I got my award letter, they said they had deferred TDIU because I already get SSDI. I have a thread about it here: I'm 31. I got out of the military when I was 21. It did say I have 60 days, but if I take longer than 30 to request a hearing they will stop paying me my monthly, and start the fiduciary process. 70% is what I just got December 5th. It's a miracle that I got it. I didn't know about getting a nexus letter, they stated 'No private treatment records were submitted by the veteran in support of claim (my wife sent them in twice.)' I guess I just got lucky in who did my C & P and that they were willing to make full copies of all my psych/therapist/hospital records that my wife smartly sent me to the C & P with, and take the time to read and consider them all before making their recommendation to the rater. I don't think my doctor would have any problem adding it to the diagnosis, and blaming it on the SC, as it's been brought up many times. My wife has to drive me to all my appointments, and attends with me, because I can't go in alone. I turned in my 21-8940 this Friday at the DAV with a letter from my doc stating that I'm unemployable due to my SC. I will apply for SMC, as I can count on one hand the number of times I left my house/car in the last year that wasn't directly due to an SSDI/VA/Doctors appointment/Hospitalization.

I spoke with the DAV, and the rep said I should just get a letter from my psychiatrist saying that I can handle my own finances, that my wife and I go over the budget each month together and pay the bills together, and then write a statement saying about the same. He recommended against requesting a hearing as he felt the letter and statement would be enough evidence that they wouldn't declare me incompetent, and a hearing would drag out getting my retro even longer. He said that we would just appeal if for some reason they did declare me incompetent anyway. Does anyone else experienced in this have an opinion?

My SSDI determination states: "The medical evidence in the record establishes that the claimant has the following medically determinable severe impairments: a schizoaffective disorder, rule out schizoid personality disorder, and obesity. (20 CFR 404.1520©)" and "The severity of the claimant's schizoaffective disorder meet the criteria of listing 12.04 of the Listing of Impairments (Appendix 1), and has precluded the claimant from performing substantial gainful activity since March 1, 2012. (20 CFR 404.1520(d) and 404.1525)" I'm assuming that rule out schizoid personality disorder, and obesity means they didn't consider these things in my disability determination. I looked up 12.04. It is for Affective Disorders. Does it seem like I have anything to worry about?

Thanks for your kind words Berta. I went down to the VARO today to request my C & P exam, and the rep told me it was going to take six months to get a copy. Is it even going to be that long before they schedule a hearing on my incompetency? I'm also going down to the DAV on Friday after I see my Psychiatrist for the IMO. It would have been nice to be able to show my doctor the C & P exam first so she could dispute it, but it doesn't look like that's going to be an option.

How did they use yours against you? I'm also going down to the DAV Friday to submit the TDIU and SSDI paperwork.

If I am awarded TDIU will it be retrograded to my original claim date?

I've searched and searched for what you should put on the VA FM 21-4138 to support your claim for competency. Does anyone know of a helpful link?

"If, the VA decides that you are capable of handling your finances or if a fiduciary is appointed, you will receive a rating decision with their decision" Is the rating decision a yes or no, you are incompetent, or are you saying it will change my 70% SC?

Thank you. Does anyone have a link to what other benefits are available with TDIU?

I was granted 70% for SC Schizoaffective disorder yesterday, and in it says: A finding of incompetency is proposed. You will receive a separate correspondence discussing this issue. We have withheld your retroactive payment pending our decision on incompetency. Later in the letter it says: Your VA examination shows the examiner opined your are (sic) not capable to (sic) managing your won (sic) financial affairs (Who is the incompetent one?) Since there is a definitive finding of incompetency by a physician in this case and you are shown not to be able to manage personal affairs to include disbursement of funds, we propose to make a determination of incompetency for VA purposes. This really scares me. I did several hours of research on the fiduciary program and found spouses being removed as fiduciary, court cases for embezzlement of veteran's funds by their fiduciary and so on. I'm scared that if they do find me incompetent that they won't even appoint my spouse as my fiduciary, as we have horrible credit from my medical bills, hospital stays, and the birth of my daughter this year. If they'd simply give me my retro, I would be able to pay off all my debt other than my house, and student loans and our credit would improve. They say I have 30 days to request a hearing (which also scares me, I am agoraphobic and do really badly around strange people.) I'm assuming I should request a hearing. I did my benefits claim and got my 70% SC without a VSO or lawyer (my wife really did most of the work) and I have heard good and bad things about VSOs. Should I get one? There only seems to be one VA certified VSO in Idaho. They also sent me a 'Statement in support of claim' document to fill out. Maybe I'm just dense, but I don't know what I could possibly put on it other than "My wife and I have a monthly budget meeting, and then pay the bills together. Our budget plans are such that we expected to be fully debt free other than our house and student loans by November 2014, not counting any monies from the VA. Now that I have been awarded a retroactive payment, I have created a new budget for these monies to pay off these same debts we were expected to have paid by November 2014. Our new budget including the VA granted money calls for contributions to my wife's 401k, the fully allowed yearly contribution for each of us to IRA accounts, monthly savings, the building up of 2 years food storage for emergencies, and savings to purchase a replacement vehicle to replace my wife's aging car." I read around and I plan to get an IMO from my psychiatrist (she helped with a letter for SSDI) stating that I am competent to handle my own finances. Is there anything else she should include in the letter? I'm wondering where "Since there is a definitive finding of incompetency by a physician in this case" came from? I'm assuming my C & P? I was extremely stressed out and having panic attacks during my C & P, I have memory loss issues anyway, and my C & P lasted over 4 hours, but I don't remember her ever asking anything that could be used to assume I'm incompetent to handle my finances, to include, who pays the bills in your family, though I might just not remember it. Is it my C & P that will show where this definitive finding of incompetency came from? If so, how do I request a copy of it? If not, what can I request from the VA that would show how they came up with that finding? I want to know what they said so I can go into my hearing prepared to fight back. I in no way am incompetent to handle my finances, in fact, I alone handle my wife's 401k mutual funds and such, I've also received A's in college financial and managerial accounting in the past. Your answers and time are greatly appreciated (I know I asked a ton of questions, I'm sorry), as I am trying anything I can to alleviate my stress and depression over possibly having my future controlled by someone who doesn't know or care about me. I'm a real mess, but handling my budget is one of the few things that I'm capable of that makes me feel like I am contributing to the inordinate amount of work my wife has on her plate as the bread winner, and caretaker of me, our house, and our daughter. Is there anything else I need to know or do to help my chances at fighting this? I'm crazy, not incompetent. /sigh

I was awarded 70% SC yesterday (one battle finally won), and the award letter states: We deferred entitlement to the 100% rate (IU) because you are receiving Social Security Disability benefitis (sic) and we need your records from the social security administration. We will obtain these records for you. That's all it says about it. I never filled out the form for IU, and this was on there anyway. Do I need to fill the form out? Does anyone know what records they are getting from the SSA, and how they will affect IU? I was granted 70% for Shizoaffective disorder claimed as PTSD. Does this just mean that I claimed for PTSD, and they found something else? I receive SSDI benefits, also for Shizoaffective disorder. I'm just really scared, stressed out and drained. I thought I was going to be able to take my head off a swivel after my award and spend more time attempting to be happy so my wife wouldn't be so stressed out and worried about me. I could really use some answers/support. Thanks in advance.